


A Killer Affair

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Assassins & Hitmen, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Meetings, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gallifrey, no actual death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2018-12-12 23:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11746995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: Rose Tyler has been on the case to assassinate John Smith for almost two years. She plans on it being easy, until she actually meets the charming man and realizes he's more than the owner of Gallifrey Airlines





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the pun title (no I'm not)
> 
> Here is the first chapter of my Assassins AU, I hope you enjoy it!

She’d been on his case for about a year and a half. That time had been dedicated to studying his every move, what he did, what he was  _ supposed  _ to do and didn’t turn up for, and who he hung around with. 

All in all, Dr. John Smith was dreadfully boring.  He never had women around, or even friends for that matter, which would make him an easy target, and he only attended events for the business that he owned.  

The man owned Gallifrey Airlines, and he was supposed to be dead.

Well, perhaps that was a bit harsh.  Rose Tyler, or ‘Bad Wolf’ as her was her alias, was to assassinate him.  And it could be the term ‘assassinate’ because she was hired to kill him for political gain.

For whatever reason, the Queen of bloody England loved John.  Possibly because the royal family owned private jets through his airlines and he raised awareness for a load of different charities.  All in all, he was a very ‘nice’ guy.  And that made him sloppy, and easy to track, and follow.

She was meant to study him for two years before striking. The man who had hired her, known only as ‘The Master’ had told her so. But he had contacted her about a month ago and asked her to get close to John Smith before killing him. She had agreed.  There was a certain contract between an assassin and the person who wanted the assassination to be completed.  She was to obey his rules, because he told her how to kill and who to kill.

Rose wasn’t really in the business by choice.  She’d never finished any higher education, never finished her A-levels.  She was quite useless, really.  Her boss, known only as “The Face” had gotten her into it.  His way of killing was a bit more ‘seduce’ and less ‘take by surprise’.  Rose didn’t like to do that, and never had.  Though, she’d only killed twice, and both were cheating husbands anyway, so it wasn’t like it would’ve been hard to seduce them anyway.

The Master called her one night, and since she wasn’t expecting it, she answered immediately.

“Hello?”

“Bad Wolf?”

“This is she,” Rose said. “What do you need?”

“Remember how I told you to get close to him?”  The Master said, taking care not to use his name.

“Yes, I do,” Rose said, “Has something changed?”

“He’s going to be at a diner this afternoon, if you can catch up with him and start getting in his good graces, that would be extremely helpful.”

“Are you saying that you’d like me to speed up the process?” Rose asked patiently, sitting on her couch and crossing her legs.

“Well, I suppose so, yes,” The Master said, “He’s getting on my nerves more than usual, I thought I could wait.”

“Sure thing,” Rose said, leaning her head back on the couch.  “When do you want it done then?”

“As soon as possible, Bad Wolf.  What do you have on him so far?”

“His work schedule, his weekend visits.  The people he hangs around, which really isn’t that many, it’s quite sad.”

‘I know,” the Master said, “It won’t be much of a loss, when he’s… Moved on.”

Rose decided not to respond to that. It wasn’t necessary.  She had no feelings one way or the other towards this man, so it didn’t really matter.  She blew out a sigh.  “So, you’d like for me to meet him at this diner because? What? You want me to get closer to him quicker?”

“If you can, yeah,” The Master said, “I’m sure he’d love to meet you today, it’s not like he won’t be eating alone.”

Rose squinted across her living room. “Okay, then, how did you know where he was going to be?  And I didn’t?”

“It’s the anniversary of his parents’ death. I used to be friends with him, remember.  He goes to this diner every year.”  The Master paused, “So are you going to do it or shall I take back the first half of the money I’ve given you?”

Rose checked her watch and tried not to grumble.  “Give me the address,” she said.

The Master gave her an address and a time.  Within the hour Rose was sitting in a diner that she’d never been in before.  She knew what John Smith looked like, and so when he walked into the cafe, she spotted him instantly, and moved to the back of the queue, just behind him.  He didn’t notice that she had come up behind him from already being inside the store.

Rose leaned her weight onto one hip.  Then she tapped his shoulder.  He turned over his shoulder and smiled at her.

“Hi, sorry to bother you, but I’ve never been here before.  Have you got any recommendations?” 

John smiled, a friendly smile that she blocked out.  He jerked his head towards the counter.  “The best thing here is the turkey sandwich, and all the soups are really good,’ he said.  “Unless you’re a vegetarian.”

She grinned. “I’m not. I think I’ll go with your suggestions,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll be great.”

He nodded. “Are you new in town?” He asked.

“No, lived round here my whole life, just never got around to this place,” she said, looking around, “It looks nice.”

“It is nice,” he said, “I know the owner, she’s my cousin.”

“Oh,” Rose smiled, rifling through his information in his head. “What’s her name?”

“Donna Noble,” He said, “Brilliant, really. I try to give her business whenever I can.  You know, family ties and all that.”

“Sorry, I never asked, what’s your name?”

“John Smith,” he said, and extended his hand to her. She shook it, feeling a bit odd that she was touching the man that she was planning on killing.  It felt odd, really, and she wasn’t sure how to approach it.  She forced another smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rose,” She only felt comfortable telling him her name because she knew his murder would never be drawn back to her.  It would be easy to make it look like an accident, and if she ‘got close’ the way she was supposed to, she could go to the funeral and cry and then be right back home for dinner.  

“Rose. Lovely name,” he said, “Well, I’m sure you don’t fancy sitting alone, unless you do… I suppose what I’m trying to ask is if you’d like to have lunch with me?”

Rose grinned. “Sure,” she said.   “I’d love to have lunch with you.”

His eyes seemed a little sad, regardless of what nice things he was saying and the smile on his face. She remembered that the Master had told her that it was the anniversary of his parents’ death.  

The two of them ordered their food and took a seat at a table, sitting across from each other, and waiting for the server to bring their food out. John’s cousin hadn’t served them, which Rose decided was probably best, because she didn’t need to see John showing any emotion.

“So what do you do, Rose?” he asked finally, taking a pen from his pocket and starting to draw on a napkin.

“I’m a secretary,” she said, spouting out the planned answer. “You know, just a temp.”

He looked up at her. “I’m sure you’re not just a temp,” he said gently, as though trying to encourage her.  

She smiled, brushing it off. “And what do you do, John?” She asked, leaning on the table a bit, eager to see if he was going to lie or not.

He lifted a shoulder. “I try to do a load of things,” he said slowly, cautiously, “But I own a company.”

“What company?”  
“Gallifrey Airlines. Have you flown with them?” John asked, turning back to his napkin.  

“No, I’ve never flown anywhere,” Rose said, smiling tightly.  “Never really needed to go anywhere, you know?”

“Someday you should, if you can,” John said, smiling to her. “I could give you a free flight, get you wherever you want.”

Rose was taken aback, and sat back in her chair. “Why would you do that for someone that you just met?” she asked, “You don’t even know me.”

John sat back and set the pen down next to the napkin.  ‘I like to be nice,” He said, lifting a shoulder.  “Everything I’ve done for other people, it’s because I want people to be happy, you know?” he said. “And I don’t think nearly enough people get to travel. If I could dock the prices of flights, I would.”

Rose smiled. “Well, that’s very kind of you.’  
“I’m not doing it for attention,” he said, frowning at her tone. 

“Well, I’ve never heard of you, so obviously you’re not,” Rose said, trying to encourage him instead of getting him irritated. She didn’t want him to be getting irritated and pushing her away before she even got started.  She grinned, probably a bit too widely, trying to be charming.  “Though maybe perhaps someday, I’ll go somewhere.”

Supposedly forgiven, he nodded at her. “I hope so,” he said, “You can’t stay in London forever, that would be the most dull idea on the planet.”

“I won’t, believe me,” Rose said.  She reached out and tapped her pointer finger on the napkin that he’d been drawing on.  “What have you drawn? I’ve never seen someone draw successfully on a napkin before.”

He turned the napkin to face her.  It wasn’t really anything, just a design.  It wasn’t anything that was distinguishable, but if Rose was being honest, it was very beautiful.  She cocked her head and stared at it. “What is it?”

“I just see pictures in my head, and I like to draw them. It’s how I came up with the Gallifrey Airlines logo.” He shrugged. “I used to be good at art.”

“Looks like you still are,” she said.  “You designed the logo?”

“I did.”

Their food was delivered and they ate together. Rose was detached, as she was getting very good at it, but still maintained an interesting conversation with him.  He didn’t do a lot, but he was writing a book about psychics.  She found out that he was also a Doctor of astronomy and physics.  He was dead clever, and she wondered why, exactly, the Master hated him so much.

She reminded herself that she was not in the position to be questioning her employer, especially when he was paying her.  He could pull the money at any time, and she couldn’t afford that.  

About an hour later, when their dishes were gone and she realized that she’d been chatting with him too long, she checked her watch.  “I’ve got to go,” she said, “Back to work.”

“Alright,” he said, standing with her.  He stuck his hand out and she shook it, smiling in a way that she hoped didn’t come across as fake. 

He sniffed and looked away for a second before tucking his hands in his pockets.  “Thank you for spending today with me, I don’t think you quite know what it means to me.”  He had no idea that Rose knew exactly why it meant so much to him, and she didn’t let on.

“Sure thing, John.”

“Maybe I’ll see you around?” He said as she was turning.  His voice sounded anxious, like he didn’t want to let her go.

Well, this was her chance to get closer to him, the way the Master wanted. “I could give you my phone number, I suppose,” she said, “We could chat a bit.”

John nodded. “I would like that a lot, thank you,” he said, taking his mobile from his pocket and gave it to her.  She tapped in her number and first name and handed it back to him.  It would be very difficult to track someone just named “Rose” after all, and she had two phones, and only one of them was for work. 

“I’ll call you,” he said, though it sounded more like a question.

She nodded. “I hope you do, John Smith,” she said, and winked at him before turning over her shoulder and leaving the cafe. Shortly after she crossed the threshold, her phone rang.  She peered at it, expecting John, although it was her work phone, and saw ‘The Master’ flashing on her caller ID. She sighed and answered it.

“Hello?”

“I see you’ve left the cafe.”

“Were you watching us?” Rose demanded.

“Just making sure you were doing your job,” the Master said, “I’m gone now, don’t bother looking for me. Just wanted to let you know that I saw and that you appear to be doing a good job.”

“Well, Master, if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s doing my job,” she said.

“Brilliant. Talk soon, Bad Wolf.”

She hung up and shut off any thought of John Smith from her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose was sure that John would call her soon, since he was probably dreadfully desperate, as he had no friends.  She didn’t wait by the phone, necessarily, but she was dreadfully curious to see if he jumped at any female attention. 

To her absolute surprise, he didn’t.  It was actually several days (most of which she spent studying his habits anyway) before she heard from him again.  He texted her, actually, and it was concise and professional and she realized that this was probably why he didn’t have a girlfriend.

_ Sorry. Been dreadfully busy.  Talk soon? -J _

She literally frowned when she got it, surprised that he would say something so cordial without being friendly or flirty. He was  _ boring.   _ This was going to be a little more difficult than she thought, if she was going to actually have to engage him in conversation.

_ No worries.  Tell me what you’ve been doing?  And do you always sign your texts? _

She asked him even though she knew. He’d worked. That was it. The man was a workaholic that didn’t do anything but run his (admittedly very successful) company.  She wondered, though, if he would lie about what he’d been doing. She knew men that had the tendency to do that, after all.  She tapped her fingers on her kitchen counter and stood up to make herself a cup of tea.  He could wait, though she wasn’t really expecting a response from him within the year.

She was wrong.  The wait between the texts was not very long after that, as he seemed to realize that it was very rude to leave someone hanging when they had sent you a message.  By the time she sat down with her tea she had a message from him.

_ I don’t get days off.  Owning a business is very taxing.  And yes, I do -J _

She snorted, What sort of idiot signed all his texts.  Did he not know who he was talking to?  Or perhaps, she thought, he wasn’t used to people actually saving his number and he had to remind the person who they were talking to. Well, that made it sound way sadder, and Rose had to stop herself from feeling bad for him. She was going to put him out of his misery, after all, so there was nothing to feel bad about.  She took a sip from her mug and wrote back.

_ Well, you do own the company. You don’t have to sign your texts though, I know it’s you. _

After a few moments, he responded again, this time without his little signature.

_ Oh, well, if you insist. Would you like to get coffee sometime? _

She blinked.  Well, short and straight to the point, she supposed, and it would be very easy to reel him in if he was going to be like this. After all, he was so dreadfully lonely that he probably spoke to everything with a pulse.  It made her job unbearably easy, for what the Master had in plan for John Smith.  She might even get paid a little extra for the way she was going about things. Though with a man like the Master, one could never really be sure.

_ Coffee?  I don't’ drink it much, but I’d love to get together with you.   _ She sent it and tried to ignore the odd feeling of guilt that settled low in her stomach. She’d never taken advantage of someone like this before, and he was terribly vulnerable.  Killing him at the end of it wouldn’t really justify the means, would it?  Either way, she supposed she shouldn’t complain, as she was still going to receive a hefty paycheck at the end of it. And if she didn’t do her job right, she’d have to leave the country.

There were rumors about the Master, how he behaved, how he took out his enemies without a second though. Nobody knew quite what he did, and most assumed he was just a businessman. Rose was inclined to do the same, as she wasn’t supposed to know anything about her client.

Her phone rang and, seeing as it was The Face, she answered it right away.   His real name was Jack, but she couldn’t advertise that and had to keep it to his codename over the phone, and she didn’t want to give him away.

“Face,” she greeted, wincing at how awkward it sounded.  “What do I owe the pleasure?”  
‘Plenty of pleasure, sweetheart,” the Face flirted back, his voice dripping with what it always dripped with: plenty of flirtation and promise behind it all. He meant everything he said, the only problem was that Rose kept turning him down. There were no hard feelings between them, but Rose had a feeling that he was never going to stop trying.  So she let him tease and flirt until he’d moved on for the night, and then she could get back to work.

“That’s very funny,” Rose said, “I assume you’re checking in on my assignment?” she asked, wanting to cut straight to the chase on this one.

“Yes,” the Face said, suddenly all business. “I know that the Master wants you to get close to him, and that you have his phone number now.”

“How did you know that?”

“We work in the same business, Bad Wolf,” the Face reminded her gently, “Sometimes I think you forget that.”

“No, of course not, it’s just that- well, I didn’t think you’d be spying on me,” Rose admitted, “I thought we had a sort of trust thing going.”

“I trust you completely,” The Face said emphatically, “I just want to warn you that you are playing in some deep waters here.  It’s risky to get to know a client before offing them, and you might be in a bit of trouble on that one.”

“I’m not going to marry him,” Rose protested, twirling a piece of hair in her fingers, “It’s all in good fun, really.”

“Bad Wolf.”

At his warning tone, she sighed. “Fine, I’ll be careful.  But this isn’t going to be difficult, I’m telling you. The man is dreadfully boring, has no friends, and could easily be mistaken for a tall hobbit, the way he’s either grinning or frowning and never anything in between,” she sighed, “He holds no personal value for me whatsoever.”

“Good,” the Face replied, “I’ll be checking in with you. Don’t think I won’t. I want to make sure that you’re going the straight and narrow on this job.”

“You’re concerned with the straight and narrow.”

“Cheeky.  Talk soon, Bad Wolf.”

It wasn’t a question. He was her boss, and if she didn’t do as he said, she’d be in more trouble than she’d be in if she let the Master down. She blew out her cheeks.  “Yes, sir,” she said, “I’ll be careful and I’ll call you soon,” She promised before hanging up, feeling a bit upset about the whole thing.  She didn’t think that the Face would be tracking her movements, and so conspicuously at that. She was an  _ assassin,  _ it was her job to be observant, and she hadn’t noticed herself being observed?

She looked at her phone and saw she had a new message from John.

_ What are you doing Sunday afternoon? _

She chewed her bottom lip. She wasn't doing anything. She was never doing anything, so really, she could tell him right now that she was available, but for some reason that even she didn’t know, she wanted to keep him on his toes, keep him guessing until the very last moment.

_ I suppose I can check my schedule.  _

_ Would you? That would be lovely. _

Did he actually sound…. Excited to see her? She was surprised by that to say the least. They’d only met the once after all, how could he possibly be delighted at the mere prospect of seeing her?  Assassin or not, she wasn’t anything special, just a young woman with a quick mouth, really, nothing more or less.  He’d lose interest in her, if there was any interest there besides his certain desperate attitude.  He’d probably just try and bed her and move on, but Rose was really not trying to get in anybody’s bed, so she went ahead and just replied to him carefully.  She was free.  So she couldn’t say that she wasn’t. Or, she could, but really, this was part of her job.

_ Where should we meet? _

Rose hadn’t met up with anyone since she had first gotten hooked up with the Face.  She had a couple friends, but it was difficult to maintain relationships when one was a literal murderer for their living.  

She chewed her thumbnail and decided that maybe she would use this as a learning experience, to keep her social skills intact.  After all, it had just been so long since she sat and talked with anybody.  Besides her mother, of course, and she wasn’t sure why she was still talking to her mother.  She hadn’t let anything slip, to her own amazement.  Her mum thought she was a secretary for an MP.  

If that were true, Rose thought that perhaps her life would be a little bit simpler.  She blew out her cheeks and set her phone down. She didn’t want to think about it.  That was not her life, and it would do her well to remember that.

******

Unfortunately, Sunday came very quickly and she needed to meet up with John.  He seemed excited about it, as he had texted her off and on over the past few days.  He told her that he was very busy in meetings (which of course she knew from her surveillance on him) and that he hadn’t left his house in a long time besides that (which she also knew). It was tiring to talk to him when she knew exactly what he was doing all the time.  

She waited for him in the Tardis Coffee shop.  He was a little late, which she expected, and smiled at her happily when he saw her.  He waved and she smiled back, standing up.  He took her hand in both of his. “It’s lovely to see you. I didn’t know if you’d agree to see me, since we’d only met the once.”

“Are you used to people saying no to you?” She asked.

He chuckled, “Something like that.  Let’s just say if you hadn’t agreed to meet me today, I wouldn’t have tried to get in contact with you ever again.” he rubbed the back of his neck. “So can I buy you a coffee?”

“I’d like that,” Rose said, nodding towards the queue.  “Thank you,” she said.

“I was taught to always treat a lady with respect,” he told her, adjusting his tie.  Why had he gotten so dressed up to come to coffee? She knew he wore suits to work all the time, but this was a bit more ridiculous than that. It was  _ coffee,  _ it wasn’t even dinner.  Rose was reeling a bit with it, if she was honest.  

And also, she was hardly a lady.

“Pick your poison,’John said, and Rose almost snorted. She wasn’t sure how she was going to kill him yet, but now she was thinking about poison for him.  It would be nice and painless.  He’d had enough pain, she thought. 

He put his hand on her shoulder as he led her to the line to get the coffees.  The two of them chatted a bit, not a lot of dynamics in the conversation, mostly smalltalk.  He was good at that, though she supposed he had to be to own a business.  He’d have to talk to people that he didn’t know, and do it well for them to be able to want to work with him.

“Do you like your job?” She blurted out, turning to him.

He blinked at her. “Yes,” he said, “My parents were associated with the airlines, but I was able to climb the ladder a bit until I reached the… Um, well, the literal top of the food chain,” he rocked back on his heels. “But I just want everyone involved to be happy, that’s all.”

“You’re worried about people not liking their flights?” Rose asked, frowning.

He scratched his jaw and nodded a little. “Yeah,” he said, “When I was younger, and I would get on planes, I was miserable.  Absolutely miserable.  And the older I got, it didn’t get any better.  I wanted it to be better, so since I couldn’t make it better for myself, when I had to fly alone, I thought I could make it better for everybody else, do you know what I mean?”

She studied him, a little surprised at his answer.  “Yeah, I guess I do understand,” she said softly, then shook herself.

“I realized I don't’ know anything about you, Rose,” he said once they were seated.  “I just thought you were kind and- oh, I probably made you a bit uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m not uncomfortable,” she said, “I just don’t have a lot of things about myself to say. I don’t do a lot.”

“Don’t you have a hobby?” He asked her.

She chewed her bottom lip. She supposed it wouldn’t be too bad to say something about a hobby. It wasn’t anything terribly personal.  She took a sip of the coffee he’d bought her.  ‘I draw.”

“You draw?” he perked up. “Perhaps you could design some things for me, to put in airports or something.  Art is really beautiful.”

She blinked. “You don’t even know if I’m any good.”

He smiled softly., “I can guess, though, and I don’t think you would have brought it up if you weren’t talented.”

“I could be delusional.”

“I don’t think you are.”

Rose smiled. “Maybe I’ll show you sometime,” she flirted, and he blushed a litte, smiling at her. 

“I’d like you to.”

“But you drew on that napkin when we first met,” she pointed out, “And I know you did the logo for Gallifrey Airlines.”

“I did,” John said, “But I’d like to see what you could come up with.”

She did  _ not  _ want her name tied to that company, so she just smiled and took another sip of her coffee.  “Oh, maybe someday,” She said.

He chatted to her openly, his face animated and happy. She wondered if he was always that happy, in one way or another.  Even though she met him on the anniversary of his parents’ death, he was still a bit cheerful.  She had no idea why he was like this, and she found herself wanting to know what his deal was.

“I’d like to see you again, Rose,” he said after about two hours of small talk and John buying her two more things from the shop.  She let him, mostly because a man’s ego dictated it, and she really wanted to be on his good side.

His words, though. They made it sound like he wanted to  _ date  _ her.  She swallowed hard, and thought about what she needed to say.  

“What do you mean?” She asked. 

“I think you’re interesting,” he said, “And charming, and… And, well, you’re lovely,” he smiled at her, a little nervously.  “And I’d like to see you again.”

She smiled, trying not to look to snide about it, and not sure that she was succeeding. “Sure,” she said, “Call me, alright, John?”

“Yes! Yes, of course,’ he smiled and nodded.  And before she could stop him, he swept her up into a hug.  She felt her eyebrows arch but she wrapped her arms around his neck so that he didn’t think she was rude or something, or that she didn’t return his feelings.  He needed to believe it for now. 

“I’ll see you later, Rose,” he said, so softly only she could hear it, and then pulled back from her.  They shared a couple more pleasantries and he left, his steps absolutely springy.  She smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.  This was going to be so much easier than she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a big surprise when John called her the next day. Rose stared at her phone and frowned, not sure why he was calling her so quickly.  She let it go to voicemail.  He didn’t leave one, just texted her a moment later.

_ You didn't answer, I suppose you’re busy.  I’ll call again later. _

Rose decided that he probably would.  She was going to lunch with the Face today, as he decided that he needed to talk to her about what she was doing with John.  She wasn’t looking forward to it, because she knew that he was going to disapprove, but it was what her client wanted.

When she met up with him in the dark corner of the restaurant,he glanced up at her through the shadows.

“Bad Wolf,” he acknowledged as she sat down across from him.  

“Face,” she said.  “You wanted to talk to me over dinner,” she said, “not sure what you want,” she lied.

The Face looked at her disbelievingly.  “I know you’ve been seeing John Smith.’

Rose ran her hand through her hair.  “Yeah, um.  I have been, but not a lot.”

“Enough for me to be worried,” the Face said, “He’s already infatuated with you,” he said, resting his chin in his hand.  

Rose furrowed her brows. “You’ve been watching?” she asked, feeling a little insulted but not sure how she didn’t see it before. 

“Of course I’ve been watching,” he said, “And  you’re an idiot if you think that he’s not looking at you like you hung the stars.  It’s clear that guy doesn’t get a lot of attention, and he’s finally getting some from you.  How far are you willing to go for this?”

Rose shrugged, “I’m not sure yet.  The Master just asked me to, and he’s the one that hired me, so I have to do it.” She reached for the water that the waiter had set on the table moments before she had come over.  “I’m just doing my job,” she said defensively.

The Face stared at her.  ‘You don’t want to become attached to him,” he said firmly, “You’ve only done your work from afar, Rose, it’s dangerous to do it so close to him.  You’ll have to get close to him and then… Take care of things. That’s going to weigh on you more than you think it does.”

Rose narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you done this before?” She asked, “Gotten close to someone before you do it?”

The Face nodded slowly, “That’s why I don’t want you to do it,” he said lowly. “It’s painful, and no matter what you think, you will miss him acutely when he’s gone.” 

“But you  _ like  _ to seduce people,” Rose pointed out, “So how can you even be mad about this?” She demanded.

The Face clenched his jaw. “I do like to seduce people, and I’ve done it for so long that it doesn’t do anything for me anymore. I feel nothing,” He said softly, “Killing has made me very cold,” he searched Rose’s eyes. “Don’t be like me.  Stop talking to him and get out of it before it’s too late.”

“I’ll lose money if I don’t do it,” Rose protested, “This is the way he wants it done, and so that’s how I have to do it.”

“No, you don’t understand,” the Face said quietly, “The Queen of England knows this man.  If you get found out, you’re dead.  If you get involved with him, it’ll be easier to track you.  Way easier.  Why are you risking it?”

“Because I don’t have anything left!” Rose said, “I barely have a relationship with my mother, barely any friends, and no hobbies,” she sighed and tried to force down her emotions. “I have nothing.  I don’t think any of this is going to be an issue.”

“I do,” the Face said, “This man could easily destroy you,” he said, “And I don’t think you realize it.”

Rose blinked. “Excuse me, no man is going to destroy me,” She said, “I’m not going on dates with him, you know. I’m meeting with him knowing exactly how it’s going to end.”

“And how are you thinking of exterminating him?” The Face asked, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

Rose sniffed. “Poison.”

“While you’re with him?”

“I’m not sure,” Rose admitted.  “I hadn’t thought about that yet.”

The Face shook his head. “So you don't know if you’re going to watch this man die or not?” He said.  “That’s not the same as the way you’ve been doing it!” The Face seemed to be getting terribly annoyed. “You are not thinking about this clearly.  You need to do this right.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “I’m done talking about this. Are we going to have dinner as friends, or are you going to tell me what to do all night?”

The Face studied her carefully.  “Fine,” he said, “We’ll just have dinner, but you’ll promise me to think about it? Please?” he almost sounded like he was begging, ‘I really don’t want you to end up like me.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, leaning back in her seat, “But I think we both know that I do as I please.”

************

Several nights later, John invited Rose out for a movie after being MIA for several days.  Well, not truly MIA, as Rose could follow him easily even if he didn’t text or call her, but as she read it, he was in his offices for the better part of all his days.

_ I’m so sorry, Rose. I’m not ignoring you. _

_ I know you aren’t. _

Rose set her phone down on her nightstand and picked her book back up. She was doing a bit light reading before bed, and had been thinking about the fact that she wasn’t getting enough work. She was new to the business, yes, but she was afraid the two fortunes she’d made wouldn’t be enough.  There was a  _ lot  _ of money in her bank account, since the women who had their husbands killed by her had given her as much money as possible, nearly draining their husbands’ bank accounts, since they were getting his insurance anyway.

Admittedly, she hated to think about it and doubted that she would be carrying on in this profession for too long.  She had to finish her job with John before getting the rest of her money for that job.  Him texting her just made her think about it.

Her phone buzzed next to her and she looked down to it, picking it up without even thinking about it.  Of course, the text was from John.

_ I’d like to cook dinner for you tomorrow night, if that’s alright?  _

She blew out her cheeks.  Was that alright?  Did she want to go into his home? She supposed it would lend itself to her knowing more about his life than her tracking capabilities could show her. She stared at the text, read the hope in it, and remembered what the Face had told her about all of this.

And then suddenly, she decided to disregard it, and she texted him back.

_ Give me a time and address. _

She knew his address, of course, but she couldn’t tell him that.  She just had to hope for the best on this one.  She set her phone back down and was surprised when he replied almost immediately with his address and saying that she should come at around six.  She decided to text him telling him goodnight and just went to sleep. She’d deal with it all in the morning.

She dressed simply for her dinner with John, not wanting to look eager, since she wasn’t. She wore black trousers and a red flowy top.  Her hair was a bit tousled, not particularly styled.  Her makeup was light, and overall she felt like she looked as though she didn’t care about the whole get together.  She headed out the door before she could second guess herself. 

She stood in front of the door to his flat, which was in a posh neighborhood. Rose wondered why he didn’t live in a house.  He could certainly afford it, she knew that, but he just lived in a nice neighborhood.  She frowned.  She would live in a house if she had as much money as him, and not in a tiny flat.

He opened the door and smiled at her.  “Hello!” he said happily, “Come in, please,” he said, and stepped back to make room for her.  She smiled and walked into his flat, her eyes immediately focusing in on different parts of his home, looking for personal touches. There weren’t any, not that she could see.  She knew his parents were dead, so she expected to see pictures of them, or of any family at all. 

And besides the lack of pictures, there was a lack of everything. Everything was immaculate and clean.  The only thing that she could see that showed that he had a personality was the bookshelves in the corner next to his flat screen telly.

“Sorry about the mess,” he said, shutting the door and coming up next to her.  

She nearly laughed out loud but stopped herself. “What mess?” She asked him, ‘Your flat is really clean, almost like a museum or something.”

He blushed a little. “I feel like I should have at least straightened up a little,’ he laughed nervously, “But dinner’s almost ready, come with me.”

He reached for her hand and she let him take it.  His fingers were cool and dry and she let him lead her to his kitchen, which was clean except for the pot on the stove.  It was terribly hot from the stove, and Rose brushed her hair off her shoulder with her free hand. 

“What have you made then?” She asked him.

He turned to grin at her and did not let go of her hand.  She wanted to be upset by it, but it had been a very long time since anyone had held her hand, and she was trying to fight off rising emotions regarding it.  

She knew that humans needed touch.  But she’d not had any human contact since, well, since she was about sixteen, the last time she had a boyfriend, and she was nearly twenty one now.  His hand in hers was dreadfully reassuring, and she wanted that reassurance more than she was willing to admit, and she found herself subconsciously edging closer to him.  He turned and smiled at her.

“I made baked chicken, green beans, and homemade bread, which, I have to tell you, is the extent of my skill in the kitchen,” he said, sounding slightly embarrassed.  

She looked to him, seeing his insecurity written all over his face. “I think- No, that’s brilliant, really,” she said, “You  _ made  _ bread?”

“Yeah, my mum used to make it all the time, and so I have her recipe.” He released her hand to start taking the food off of the stove and out of the oven, and she stood there, staring at him, feeling the loss of his hand acutely.  She laced her own fingers together in front of herself to replace the feeling.  

By the time they were sitting at the table, they were speaking freely, and Rose was starting to lose her grip on what she was there for.  His touch had nearly incapacitated her, and she wasn’t sure why. She also couldn’t get far enough away from him to sort it out in her own mind.  

“This is really good,” she said, praising him beyond what she had wished to.  He sat across from her and smiled at her. 

“I have to admit, I was dreadfully nervous to invite you over,” he said, his voice terribly vulnerable.

She furrowed her brows.  She knew he didn’t have friends, but never thought that it would be because he was a nervous man. “What? Why?”

“Because you’re lovely,” he said, looking away from, “And I’ve not had a girl over for quite some time.’

“How old are you?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

“Twenty eight.  Blimey, you have to be younger than me.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. 

“I’m almost twenty one,” she told him honestly.

“A full eight years apart.”  He raised his glass of wine to her.  

She smiled a little. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with that,” she said softly.  “Just means we see things from different perspectives.”

He tilted his head. “I never thought about it that way.”

Once they had finished eating, Rose was ready to bolt, but John asked her if she wanted to stay and watch a movie, and she found herself unable to say no.  The look in his face was gentle and kind, and she forgot again why she was there.  He was just trusting her, without knowing all the much about her. That proved, she supposed, how lonely he was. 

They picked a random horror flick and continued to to nurse the bottle of wine until Rose was even starting to feel a bit tipsy.  She put her hand to her forehead halfway through it, trying to fight off the warm, fuzzy feeling. Somehow, John’s arm was around her and she was tucked up into his side.  He was holding her dreadfully close and she tipped her head against his shoulder, just wanting to go to sleep.

“I should go,” Rose said the absolute moment the movie ended.  She got to her feet, feeling a little dizzy.  “I need to call a cab, I’m- um, I’m a little drunk.”

John nodded, his own eyes bleary. “Me too,” he admitted.  “I didn’t mean to drink so much.”

“Me neither,” Rose admitted.

“Next time we won’t drink as much,” he said, hope written all over his face.  

She nodded without thinking.  “Yeah,” she said.  She called for a cab and when it arrived, stumbled to the door.

“I’ll call you?” He asked her. 

“Yeah,” She nodded. She wasn’t thinking clearly anymore. Nothing was making sense except the man in front of her. She needed to sleep this off as soon as possible.  “My car is here.”

“Okay,” John nodded, and leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her cheek.  She closed her eyes and leaned against his touch.  

“Goodnight,” he said, breath against her skin.

She realized what she was doing and shook herself. ‘Goodnight!” She said, and bolted from his apartment. 

Maybe the Face had been right all along, and she was being far too cocky.  She had to make sure that this was all under control before she saw this man again.


	4. Chapter 4

The subsequent call from the Master surprised Rose.  She was still a little drunk, as she hadn’t gone to bed yet, so when she answered, she was a little confused.

“Hello?” She mumbled, shutting and locking the door to her flat.

‘I see you had a late night at John’s,” the Master said, his voice smug. “You’re doing very well, Bad Wolf.”

She preened a little. “Thank you,” she said, “I presume you were watching?”

“Yes, I saw the two of you getting very cozy,” the Master said, “He already trusts you.  You’re doing very well indeed.  I’ve never seen John so infatuated with a woman. Or perhaps I have, but it was ages ago if it happened.”  He laughed a little. “My point is, everything is going well, and you are more than earning the second half of the money.”

“Glad to hear it,” she said, and a little beeping told her there was someone on her other line.  “Hey, Master, there’s someone on my other line, I think it might be John.  Feel free to call back.”

“I’m going to be backing off a bit, now that I know you’re doing what I asked.  I will be calling to check in, but other than that, I’ll leave you alone.  You’re doing me a very big favor, Bad Wolf.”

“Yeah, for money.  Talk soon.”

She hung up on the Master and answered the other line, fully expecting an equally drunk John.  Instead, she heard a familiar voice that she actually hadn’t heard in a long time.

“Rose?  It’s your mum.”

Rose stiffened, trying to clear her head and not appear drunk. “Mum?”

“Yeah, it’s your mum,” her mum, Jackie, repeated again. “I want to know what you’re up to, love, I haven’t heard from you in an age, and I miss you.”

Rose sat down heavily on her couch. “I know,” she said, “I’ve just been busy, you know?”

“Well, I’d like you to come round for lunch next week,” Jackie said, “I really need to see you, dear, and if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to prove that you have friends, because I’m not sure I believe that you have any.”  
“I do!” Rose said, feeling a little insulted.  “I have friends!” 

She didn’t, not really, but that was hardly the point.  The fact that John, the Face, and the Master were the only people she talked to were not lost on her, but her mother didn’t need to know that.  She was just her mum, after all.

“Come round for lunch next tuesday then,” her mum said, and the commanding tone was enough to make Rose believe that she was serious.  She chewed her lip. Seeing as she was still terribly drunk, she knew that she was probably just going to agree to anything at this point, which was why she had to leave John when she did.  Otherwise, she would’ve done something stupid, like fall asleep on his shoulder or something like that. 

“Fine,” Rose said, “I’ll come round.”

“And bring a friend.”

“ _ Fine,”  _ Rose said through gritted teeth. “Just text me the details, so I don’t forget.”

“Okay,” Jackie said, her voice softening considerably. “I just miss you so much, Rose, I haven't seen you in so long.”  
Guilt washed over Rose. “I know,” she said, “I’ll come, I promise.”

She rang off with her mum, and Rose thought she’d never felt so much collective guilt at once.  She knew John was probably going to call her soon, and her  _ mother  _ had just called, so really, she was dreadfully annoyed by the whole situation, and drunk enough to want to start crying about it.

Instead of doing anything, she went right to bed without taking her makeup or anything, just wanting to sleep for days. She curled up in bed and missed the call that came through. 

The next morning, Rose listened to the voicemail, halfway hung over and feeling dreadfully upset and grumpy for no reason.  She pressed her mobile to her ear to hear John’s very drunk voice coming through the speaker.

“Hello, Rose!  You left my flat!  That’s okay, I think that it was getting late and we were both a little bit drunk but, um, well, i'm still drunk, honestly, so I couldn’t have possibly asked you to stay.  Though, I really like being with you.  I have never met anyone like you.  I- uhm, if I remember, I’m going to call you tomorrow, but I've never had so much wine before, so I really don’t know if I’ll be coherent tomorrow morning.”

She heard him clear his throat before he said, quite softly, “Thank you for giving me a chance, Rose.  You’ll never know how much that means to me.”

Rose closed her eyes and set the phone down.  She was really going to destroy this man, wasn’t she?  But even if the Master wasn’t watching her as closely, she couldn’t stop.  She had a job to do, and she couldn't stop doing it because people told her not to.  

Plus, she could probably just use him to bring to her mum’s next week,and if she stopped talking to him, that was all done in, and she was  _ really  _ in trouble.  As it stood now, everything was going right, and she wanted things to  _ stay  _ going right.  If they didn’t, she was more doomed than she thought.  

It wasn’t like anyone was going to know.  Not until it was over.  She was now at a level that she was going to have to go to go to his funeral when this was all over, and really, she was just going to have to suck it up and do exactly as she was told.  No matter what the Face said.

As she expected, John called her, and instead of just inviting her out and then hanging up, he simply spoke to her, and she found herself speaking back to him, almost uninhibited.  She was holding back a lot of it, like her job and why, exactly, she was talking to him, but she could tell that he didn’t even seem to mind.  What he did seem to do what enjoy talking to her, and it had been a long time since she had experienced that. 

“Would you like to do something this week?” John asked, sounding as nervous as a teenager asking a girl on the first date.  “We could go see a movie…. And you know… Maybe dinner?”

Rose smiled a little at his awkwardness.  “Okay,” she said, “And, um, I hate to bring this up now, but my mum has invited me over to lunch, and she said I should bring a friend.”

“Oh!  Who are you thinking of bringing?”  
She rolled her eyes and had to resist the urge to snark at him.  She giggled a little. “You, I was thinking.”  
“Oh! Right!  I’d love to,” he said enthusiastically, “When?’

She found herself chatting cheerfully to him, until she glanced over at the clock and found that nearly two hours had passed since they had first said hello.  She blinked. What had happened to draw her in so far?  She wasn’t sure what it was about him that made her lose track of time, and she hadn’t expected it at all.

She closed her eyes, trying to force down the urge to ask him if he wanted to go get something to eat, or come back to hers, or do something.  She felt, all of a sudden, like she needed to spend time with him.  

“Rose, are you still here?”

She realized she hadn’t been talking for several moments, and he had been waiting for her response for whatever it was that he had said. She hadn’t heard it, after all, she’d been thinking about him too hard to listen to him.

“Sorry, got a little sidetracked,” She said apologetically.  “What were you saying?”

He chuckled, “I can let you go,” he said, “I have to get to work, anyway.  I’m the boss, so I make my own hours, but that doesn’t mean I can just stay at home all day because i”m a little hungover, which I certainly am.”

Rose smiled at that.  “Me too,” she admitted.

“Then why don’t you go get some rest?” he said softly, the tenderness in his voice unlike nothing she’d ever experienced before.  No man had regarded her with such gentleness before, and she bit her lip, nodding, before realizing he couldn’t see her.

“Okay,” she said, “Don’t work too hard.”

“I never do,” he said, “I could… We could go out tomorrow, if you like? If it’s not too soon, I mean, you just saw me yesterday, and I think it’s possible to overload on somebody’s company, you know?”

“To see a movie and go to dinner?”

‘Yes, if you’d like.”

“I’d like to.  Dress code?”

“Um, just casual.  Next time I’ll take you someplace nicer, but I didn’t have time to get reservations, you know.”

“No, no, you don’t have to take me somewhere fancy,” Rose rushed to say.  She didn't want him to spend so much money on her, though he seemed to really want to. She wondered if he was trying to impress her, or if there was something in his past that made him think he had to win her over with his money. 

“Well, I’ll decide that,” he said, “But for now, just casual.”

They exchanged a time and Rose hung up, quickly turning to hit her head off the wall.  This was her getting in too deep, she was sure of it.  There was no way she could control this forever. She needed to speed it up.

*****

She had forgotten how intimate it was to go see a movie with somebody, even if it didn’t feel like it should be.  John held her hand for most of the movie, and she didn’t even try to move his hand.  It was nice, to feel like someone wanted to touch her, and be near her.  So she let him hold onto her the way he liked, which was always chaste and respectful, like he was afraid of scaring her or of disrespecting her.

He took her out for chips after, and she promptly forgot that this was a date of convenience, for her to get closer to him for her job.

Now she saw a man in front of her who was charming, who she had observed from afar for so long.  Maybe she thought he was wonderful all this time, but she had let the Master’s plan blind her. 

He held her hand across the table, his thumb playing across her knuckles.  He looked down at their hands, entwined as they were.

“I feel like it’s going too fast,” he murmured.

“Do you want to stop seeing each other?” she asked softly, feeling dismayed at the thought, and not terribly sure why.

“No!” he said, shaking his head, “No, I’d love to still see you, if you want to still see me.  I just- I don’t think I’ve ever trusted someone so quickly.  There’s something about you, Rose, that makes me feel as though we were meant to find each other.”

“Really?” She asked softly.  He wasn’t the man to tell pretty lies because she wanted to hear them.  If he was saying it, it meant that he thought it was the truth.  That made her believe him in an instant, and guilt weighed heavy in her stomach for lying to him. He had no idea how deceptive she was, and he was looking at her with trust and affection in his eyes.

“Really,” he replied. “You’re like no one I’ve ever met before.”

“I’m just an ordinary woman,” she said.

“Not to me,” he said firmly, “You are much more than an ordinary woman, and I don’t think anyone has shown you that before.”

“You are too kind to me,” she said, glancing down.  “Really.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand. “I’m so glad I met you.”

“Me too,” the words escaped her before she could stop herself.  This was careening out of control at top speed. She was going to ruin her own life if she continued on like this. She thought about him when she wasn’t with him loved to talk to him on the phone or in public, and she really did like holding his hand.

In her observations of him, he had seemed bland and boring.  But no, this man was dynamic and kind, and interesting.  He owned a company and slaved over it, and the way he looked at her made her head spin. 

The problem was, it was happening so fast, and it wasn’t supposed to happen at all. She was supposed to want him dead, because her client wanted him dead. And she could do it, because she had to, but just barely.  He was slowly creeping his way into her heart without her even knowing about it. Every time he smiled at her, her subconscious invited him in further.

She’d never been so enchanted by a man before.  It had been a long time since she had let herself have communication with the opposite sex, and now she understood why.  She was too vulnerable, craved his attention too much.

At the end of the night, he walked her to her flat and stood with her in front of the door.  “I look forward to meeting your mother next week,” he told her.  She giggled and shook her head.

“You say that now.”

“I do, because I believe it,” he said, squeezing both of her hands in his.  “Have a little faith. She’ll love me.”

“Maybe,” Rose exaggerated the word, and he laughed.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” he said, reaching up with one hand and cupping her cheek.

Her hand thundered painfully in her chest.  Was he really going to kiss her? If he did, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to turn him down.  

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, he simply kissed her cheek softly, a bit more lingering and tender than was appropriate, if they were saying that they were just friends.  She closed her eyes and let him, reveling in the feeling of being important to someone. She was important to him, for whatever reason, and it blew her mind more than she cared to admit.

He pulled back and stared down at her with dark eyes.  “Goodnight,” he said, his voice low.

“Goodnight, John.”

He left her with a smile, and she was standing on her front step for a good several minutes, a stupid smile on her face.

She was, perhaps, more far gone than she had thought. 


	5. Chapter 5

Rose tried to stay away from John until Tuesday rolled around, but it was surprisingly difficult to stay away from him, now that he was the one calling her, and she knew he was taking the time out of his terribly busy day to spend time with her.  It made her feel odd things, as no man had ever made so much time for her.

“I know you’re busy,” John said when she finally picked up the phone. “But I wanted to see you before we meet with your mum.”

Rose stabbed her fork into her spaghetti and nearly rolled her eyes. “Why? You nervous?”

He sputtered a little bit and then decided it would be best to just clear his throat. “Um, yeah, a little,” he said.  “I’ve never met a girl’s mother before.”

Oh.  She stopped chewing. She forgot all about that.  She hadn’t brought a guy to meet her mum in so long that she had nearly forgotten what it meant, in simple terms.  It meant they were dating now, and so she was really in deep. She rested her head in her free hand and closed her eyes.  She wanted to break it off before she finished the job, but it was becoming increasingly harder to do so.

“Rose, are you still there?”

“Yeah,” She said abruptly, “Yeah, I’m still here, just trying to think about my… Schedule.”  She finished lamely, “I think I’m just gonna have to see you at mum’s.”  
He sounded a little disappointed when he replied, “Yeah,” he said, “I had a feeling you’d say that. Sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry,” she said suddenly, which she probably shouldn't've have said at all, if she was trying to push him away. “I’m just busy, you know?  And I know you are too,” She said gently.  “So I’ll just see you, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said, still sounding a little bit down.  “I’ll, um, just call you Tuesday morning to see where we should meet, yeah?”

“Yeah,” She said, “Thanks, John.”

He murmured a goodbye and hung up. Rose tried not to be upset, not sure why she was upset at all. There was literally  _ no  _ reason for her to be upset that he was pulling back from her.  He was just a job, nothing else.  She needed to get her facts straight, and that’s why she needed to be away from him. 

Rose put her phone down and put her head in her hands.  She didn’t want to think about it anymore.  She only had one friend left, and it would just be best if she talked to her.  

Keisha, her old friend from high school that she always stuck by no matter what.  Even if they hadn’t talked for awhile, Rose knew that she could count on her to be up for anything.  

She she called her old friend and asked if she wanted to go out for a drink.

Rose had never remembered getting so sloshed.  She was at least five times as drunk as she’d been with John in his flat.  She groaned and put her head in her hands. 

“So why are you trying to get so hammered?” Keisha asked.  “I haven’t seen you like this in a long time.”

Rose ran her hand through her hair.  “A man,” she groaned.  “He’s making me confused.”

“Men will do that,” Keisha said, patting her back sympathetically, “What’s the problem?”

Rose knew that she still shouldn’t say certain things, so she just grumbled into the crook of her elbow.  “He likes me.”

“Yep, that sure is a problem.”

Rose sighed and looked pleadingly at Keisha. “I don’t have time for relationships, and I’m not good at them,” she confessed.  “And I’m not good for him.”  She ran her finger around her glass, pouting slightly.  

‘You think you’re not good for anyone,” Keisha said.  “That’s why you’ve been single all this time.”

She wanted to tell Keisha what she did, why it was that she was so torn up about this.  But she couldn’t.  She’d never be able to keep Keisha as a friend if she knew she was an assassin.  Everyone would be terrified of her, thinking she was a cold blooded killer and that she would kill them next.  

So she did what every drunk woman would do if placed in a mildly uncomfortable situation.

She burst into tears.

Keisha immediately wrapped her up in her arms and shot an apologetic look at the bartender before regarding her friend again.  “Rose, I wish you’d call me more often.  You’re so closed off, babe, that’s why you don’t have any friends.”

“I  _ know,”  _ Rose sobbed, wishing that John hadn’t changed anything for her, wishing that the Master had just let her do her job without getting close to him.  She wished for so many things that she couldn’t have, now, and it was driving her barmy.  She wanted a normal life, now, but she’d never be able to make any money doing anything else.  She didn’t have an education, she wasn’t  _ worth  _ anything, she didn’t have any special skills.

She was useless.

Keisha continued to rock Rose slowly in her barstool and chuckled a little. “Feels a bit like junior high, don’t it?”

Rose had to laugh.  “No, we cried more back then.”

“You’re right.”  She squeezed her once more and then shifted to pull Rose to her feet.  “Let’s get you home, and put you to bed, okay?  And I’ll leave a note so you have to call me tomorrow.  Rose.” She made Rose look at her, her dark eyes serious. “Rose, you’re my oldest and dearest friend, in the whole world.  Stop pushing me away.”

That just made Rose collapse into tears all over again, and Keisha had to practically carry Rose to the cab.  Once they were settled, Rose calmed and the two of them talked in the backseat, though Rose’s words were a bit less than coherent.  

Her phone rang and she jolted, pulling it out and staring at the caller ID with bleary eyes. 

“Who is it?” Keisha asked.

“It’s him,” Rose whispered.

“Answer it.”

Rose tried to force herself to sound as sober as possible as she answered. “Hello?”  
“Rose!  Red or blue tie for meeting your mum?”  
His enthusiasm was so palpable that Keisha heard him, and she smiled slightly at Rose’s blush.

“No, um-” She pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Wear the brown one.”

“The swirly one?” He replied.

“Yeah, I like that one.”  She squinted at the clock on the dashboard of the cab. “Um, why are you think-thinkin’ bout this right now?”

“Just…. Couldn’t sleep, it was on my mind.  I’ll let you go to bed. Goodnight, Rose.”

“Goodnight,” she replied, and hung up before falling back on the seat. She glanced over at Keisha, her tears and conversation with John sobering her up a little. “How much of that did you hear?”  
“He likes you,” Keisha said softly, smiling.  “He really likes you.”

“God, he talks that loud?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, he does,” Keisha said, “And what’s more, I think that you like him too, but you won’t tell him, and I can’t understand why. Every woman wants their man to adore them, and he probably called you this late because he was so preoccupied thinking about you.  And he’s meeting your mum?”

Rose groaned. “Yeah, well, mum said that she didn’t believe I had any friends, so I told her I’d bring one.  And she knows about you, so that don’t count. I didn’t even think about the implications of- him- and- it’s all messed up!”  
“Well, it was really eloquent for a second there,” Keisha said, patting Rose on the shoulder.  “Why don’t you tell me what’s holding you back.”  
“My job.”

“What about it?”

“He wouldn’t approve.”

“He doesn’t have to, it’s  _ your  _ job.”

“Yeah, but, like, he doesn’t even know my last name.”

Keisha blinked at her. “Rose, you realize he’ll know your last name the second you introduce your mother to him.  It’s gonna be okay, that hurdle will be jumped.”

Rose’s jaw almost hit the floor. How had  _ so much  _ escaped her line of thought? If John knew her last name, she would be traced to his death so much easier, and then she was absolutely done for. She couldn’t keep her job, her name, anything about herself.  Her slip up with John was going to cost her her entire life.

But Keisha didn’t need to know that.  She couldn’t know that.  Keeping the secret was breaking her apart, but she didn’t have any other options.  This was the way her life was, the way she had chosen to make it, and she she couldn’t be mad at anybody but herself.  

She groaned.  “This isn’t fair.”

“Oh, yeah, Rose, you’ve got a guy interested in you and he cares if you like the tie he wears or not, he seems dead considerate, and you obviously like him too. That’s bloody unfair, you’re right.”

Rose laughed a little. “It kind of is,” she murmured.  “Unfair, that is.”

“Mm-hm.  Sister, I’d kill to be in your position.”

Rose winced.

*******

True to her word, Keisha took Rose into her flat, made her drink an obscenely large glass of water before tucking her into bed.  She scrawled out a note and left it on Rose’s nightstand. 

“What’s that?” Rose asked sleepily.

“A reminder to call me.  You’re my best friend, remember?”

She smiled a little. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Anytime.  What are best friends for? I’m gonna let myself out.”

“Okay.  Bye,” Rose rolled over and heard Keisha laugh before she left.  Rose fell asleep within minutes, barely aware that she was doing so.

When she woke up, the Face was perched on her bed.  She squeaked and sat up, only to shove her head in her hands, groaning at the pain of her hangover.

“So I looked into the Master guy that you’re working for.”

“Ugh, what about him.”

“First of all, he’s crazy,” The Face regarded her carefully. “I think you need to call this whole thing off, Rose, give him his money back and call it a day.  He’s been watching you.”  
‘I know,” Rose replied.

“You _know?!”_ The Face shrieked, “And you just let him follow you around without you knowing?”  
“Kind of,” Rose admitted. “Um, you know, you’re in my house-”

“Don’t worry about that, I’m on your side, remember?  I’m more worried about the Master stalking you.”

“He said he was just concerned about me doing my job,” Rose said, “To see if I was getting close to John or not.”

The Face sniffed and looked away from her, the sunlight from her curtains falling across his face. “I’ve been keeping an eye on this too,” he said softly.  “And I’ve been looking into John.”

“Ugh, what about him?” Rose laid down again.

The Face breathed a sigh, “He’s changed since you met him.  He’s been taking good care of himself, working just a little less.  I know he makes time for you, Rose. He cares about you, and you’re playing him more than I’ve ever played anyone.”

“Don’t play that card with me!” Rose snapped, “You’ve bedded half of London, and killed half of them.”

“That’s sex,” The Face said, “That’s so different from toying with someone’s emotions and letting them fall in love with you.  He is, Rose, he’s falling in love with you, and you’re letting him.  What kind of animal are you?”  
Rose got to her feet so she could stare down at the Face.  “I can’t believe this. You’re my mentor in this business, don’t you want me to do well?”

“Rose,” the Face never used her name, though he knew it, and that made Rose certain that he meant business.  “The Master is dangerous, and John isn’t.  Think about it, at least, please.”  

His eyes, light and pleading, held a heaviness that Rose had never noticed before.  She nodded, looking down at her feet. “Okay,” she said. 

The Face breathed out a sigh and got to his feet, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.  She hugged him back, burying her face in his shoulder.  The two of them stood in silence, wrapped up in the gentle friendship that had formed between them. Rose was certain she’d never known anyone like him.  

“Thanks,” she said, “For looking out for me.  But I can’t promise anything.”

“I thought you might say that.”  He kissed the crown of her head. “I just want you to be safe. You’re like my little sister.”

The Face left, and Rose was left standing there alone. She glanced at the nightstand and saw the note that Keisha left her.

_ “Don’t be a stranger, you’re an arse. Love you, Keisha.” _


	6. Chapter 6

Rose tried to listen to the words that the Face had told her, but things were getting so jumbled in her mind that she wasn’t sure where anything began or ended.  It was all so confusing.  

And then Tuesday came.

John had offered to come pick her up and drive her to her mum’s, and so Rose wasn’t going to tell him no.  She sat on her couch, staring into space for an hour before he got there. She should’ve cancelled, she really should’ve, but there were parts of her that couldn’t make her body pick up the phone and tell him no.  The more time she spent with him, the more she realized that she had a really hard time telling him no.

One of these days, if he tried to kiss her, she would probably let him.

The knock at her door startled her out of her thoughts and she stood up shakily, not sure what to do or think.  Words ran through her head but none of them made any real sense, like she was dreaming while still awake. She shook her head to clear them and opened the door to see John standing in front of her, wearing a brown suit with the tie she had picked out for him over the phone.  Instead of dress shoes with his suit, he wore trainers.  And on top of it all, he looked dreadfully nervous. 

“Hello,” he said, smiling shakily at her, “You look lovely.”

She looked down at herself. She had really just thrown the outfit together without a real care about it.  It was just a nicer-looking t shirt and black jeans. “Thanks,” she said, stumbling over the word a bit. “You look great.”

“It  _ is  _ your mum, after all, I feel like I should make an effort.”  He smiled at her and her insides twisted up.  She felt more and more guilty with each passing moments, and she knew that it would be almost impossible to redeem herself from here.  She would have a difficult time carrying out her job if he kept looking at her like that. 

She wouldn’t be able to see the light leave those brilliant eyes in death.  How could she, when those eyes looked at her like she hung the stars?  
“-bought chocolates for her,” John was saying, as she tuned back into the conversation that she was having.  “I didn’t want the flowers to rot in the car, or anything. I’m not very careful, do you think that she’ll be alright with chocolates?”

“I think she’ll love them,” Rose replied honestly, offering him a smile, “Are they missing you at the office?”

“I babysit most of my employees,’ John grinned, “So in a way, they miss me every time I’m a step out the door.”  He held his hand out for her, “But I am all yours today, Rose.  So you might as well come with me.”

She laughed at his tone and slid her hand into his, locking her front door behind her before the two of them headed for the car.  John’s car was very quaint, a little blue sudan that was obviously very well loved.  It was beat up, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t take care of it.  It was kind of cute, honestly, but Rose didn’t think she’d ever tell John that.

He opened the passenger side door for her and didn’t speak until he typed her mother’s address into his GPS.  

“You seem very nervous,” Rose said, tilting her head. 

“I am very nervous,” he replied, smiling over at her. ‘I thought you might pick up on it, or maybe I’ve actually said that I’m nervous, I can’t exactly remember.”

Rose laughed a little. “So you’re nervous to meet my mum.  But she’s a person, you know, she’s not going to bite you.”

“No, I suppose not, but I also wouldn’t fancy her disliking me,” John admitted quietly, “I want her to like me, you know.”

Rose felt her heart stutter.  Not only was this man catering to her every whim, getting close to her and making time for her in his busiest times, but he cared what her mother thought of him. That was more than she could say for the other boys she’d dated.  She glanced over at him as he drove.

“She’ll like you,” She whispered, and she knew that Jackie would like him. He was charming and sweet, and dreadfully handsome. He was everything that Jackie had ever wanted for her daughter.

Rose wondered if her mother would attend his funeral.

She jolted. She hated thinking things like that in front of John, when he was so close to her, wanting her even closer, she was sure.  He was so bloody patient with her, giving her kisses on the cheek every time they parted, hugging her, but not too often.  It was starting to make her boil in her own skin, and all the sensations she was feeling, really, were dreadfully unusual for her. 

“You’re quiet,” John remarked as they closed in on her mother’s flat at the Powell Estate.  It occurred to Rose that John might think less of her for being from a poor family, and then maybe he would break up with her just based on that.

One glance at him told her that that wouldn’t happen. For whatever reason, this man cared for her, and he wasn’t shallow enough to dump her just because she hadn’t grown up with a lot of money.

She wasn’t sure whether or not to be grateful for that.

“Um, it’s right here,” Rose pointed at the flat so that John could park in front of it.  She moved to open the door and he held his hand out to stop her, saying that he would get it for her.  He scooped up the box of chocolates for her mother and then trotted over to her side of the car, opening the door and taking her hand. 

She knocked with a shaky hand. She hadn’t seen her mother in so long, and she found that John was her only anchor in the situation. She held his hand tightly, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze and smiled over at her.

“She’s your mum, Rose, it’s going to be alright,” he said, “She’ll always love you.”  
How did he read her mind so easily?  He always seemed to know what she was feeling, what she wanted.  She was indebted to him, and no matter which way she cut up and served this situation, it was going to end terribly.

The door swung open, revealing the excited face of her mother.  She went right for Rose, pulling her into a hug, and Rose found the inexplicable urge to fight tears. She bit her lip and hugged her mum back, still holding John’s hand.

He ran his thumb over hers, encouraging her in that beautiful moment of what Rose thought was probably something akin to a reconciliation.

Finally, Jackie released her daughter and looked to John.  “I’m Jackie Tyler, but you can call me Jackie.  And no offense, love, but I don’t know a damn thing about you.”  
And now he knew her last name. She had kept it so long, kept it for herself, and now John was connected to her by name.  How was this going to end now?  
“I’m John Smith,” John said, and handed her the chocolates. “Those are for you.”

“Oh, well, thank you!” Jackie said, obviously quite enjoying the attention.  “Well, come on in, you’re just in time for tea.”

The three of them prepared for tea at the dining room table and once it was all settled, Jackie started speaking to John. 

“So what do you do, John?” She asked. 

“I own Gallifrey Airlines,” He said, trying to sound as casual as possible. He took a sip of the tea.

Jackie’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “You do?  And how- you’re so young!”

John smiled sadly, “The company belonged to my parents, and unfortunately, they’re no longer with us. But they trusted me with the company, and I am very grateful to them for leaving it to me and not some hotshot.  As a result though, I hardly have free time.”

“But you took the time out to come see me with Rose,” Jackie pointed out.

John rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed. “Well, just- there’s a lot of things that I would do for Rose. Taking off work is just one of them.”

That seemed to be the right answer, and Jackie nodded. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

“They lived full lives,” John said, “But car accidents are sort of freak things, aren’t they?” he cleared his throat. “It’s alright, I have my cousin, Donna, she owns a cafe and keeps me company on the anniversary of their death every year. Actually, that’s where I met Rose. that cafe.”

Rose felt sick. She (and the Master, really) had twisted up him mourning his parents’ death.  And now he saw it as a good thing. He had no idea why she was there, had no idea that she had known he would be there. That she already knew that his parents were dead.  She bit her lip and stared down into her mug.

“Oh, that’s lovely,” Jackie said.  “Poetic, in a way.”

‘Yeah, in a way,” Rose said, forcing a tight grin.  “It was a good day,” she said honestly, because it was. It had been a very good day, and she had really enjoyed speaking to him.  He spoke to her often, and he spoke to her like she was the only person that he wanted to listen to.

‘Your daughter is amazing,” John said to Jackie.  “Absolutely fantastic, really.  I’m very very glad that I met her.”

Her heart twisted, and she felt like vomiting. He really trusted her.  He trusted her and he thought so highly of her. 

She couldn’t do this to him anymore. Even if things didn’t work out with him, if she wasn’t with him, didn’t get together with him properly, she didn’t think she could take life from such an amazing man, money be damned.  She could get out of this and still keep half. The Face could help her. She would ask him to.

“I’m happy she’s found you,” Jackie said, “The two of you seem very comfortable together,” she smiled.  “It’s been a long time since Rose had a-”  
“Mum.”

“What?”  
“We’re not anything officially,” John said for her, “We’re very close, we talk all the time, but-”

“Bollocks,” Jackie frowned. “The two of you, you’re meant to be together, any old rotten sod could see that.  John, I’ve never seen anyone look at my Rose the way you look at her.”

John blushed and stammered for a moment. “Um, well, I’m really trying not to be too extreme about this, I wanted to be subtle.  I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Rose.” he looked at her with anxiety written all over his face. He really was more worried about her happiness than anything else.

“I’ll tell you if I’m uncomfortable,” she said, smiling a little bit. “You know, I have a voice.”

He laughed a little. “I’m sorry, I just, it’s been a long time since I’ve had… I’m at a loss.”

“Better than you being experienced,” Jackie said, and all three of them laughed.

Rose forgot who she was while they had tea. They were just a family having tea, and she forgot what her job was.  John’s hand fell on her knee under the table and she let it stay there, going so far as to put her hand over his, curling her fingers under his so they were thoroughly latched together. 

They stayed far too late, and Rose checked the clock and saw that it was very late. 

“Oh, you have to work tomorrow, don’t you?” She guessed.

He nodded and glanced at the clock as well. “Oh!  Blimey, I’d not realized how late it was,” he laughed a little. “Thank you for having me, Jackie, but I really do think I must be getting your daughter back home.”

They said goodbyes at the front door and Jackie hugged John, surprising both John and Rose.  Jackie then hugged her daughter.

“Please call me,” Jackie said softly, “Stop being so far away from everyone who cares about you.”

Rose squeezed her eyes shut and nodded before pulling back from her mum. “Goodnight.”

The ride back to Rose’s flat was quiet, and John held her hand as he drove. She stared down at their linked fingers and wondered how it would feel if this was real, because as it was, it felt pretty damn good.  She unconsciously stroked his fingers with her free hand, staring down at his hand.  

When they got back to her flat, she was feeling more lost than ever, and she wanted to speak to him, but knew anything that she had to say would mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, on the list of things that were important. 

She stood to face him when he walked her to her door. “Thank you for coming with me,” she said honestly, “It means a lot to me.”

“I’ve already said that there are a lot of things I would do for you.” He reached out and cupped her cheek with one hand. “In such a short time, you have become dreadfully important to me,” he said softly, “I’m afraid of pushing you away.”

She shook her head gently so that his hand wouldn’t fall away. ‘You’re not,” she said, surprised that he thought that.

“You don’t think I”m coming onto you too hard?” He asked, his brow furrowed. 

“No.”

“Ah, well just in case, I’d better make this one more night of me being a gentleman.” he pressed a kiss to her cheek, and she surprised herself by wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him into a hug. He hugged her back, nose pressed to her hair, before whispering a goodnight in her ear and disappearing into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ................Sorry

 

Rose was properly shaken, and knew she needed to talk to the Face about what had happened.  She called him and set up a meeting, since she didn’t want to cancel everything on the phone.  He couldn’t fit her in, with as many people as he managed, until three days from today.  She knew he wouldn’t be upset with her, and that was really all that mattered to her.  He was her friend, above all, and they could trust each other with their secrets.

She was still trying to figure out what, exactly, she was going to do until then, when a knock came at her door.  She jerked out of her thought-stupor and walked to the door.  She opened it and saw John standing there with a bouquet of flowers.

She couldn’t stop herself from smiling widely when she saw them. “Oh, John-”’

“I wanted to thank you for the other day, for meeting your mum.  It was really nice, and- and I- here,” he handed the flowers to her.

“I’m sorry, I’m not dressed for company,” she said, looking down at her t-shirt and sweatpants. 

“I think you look lovely,” John said.

She blushed a little. “Thank you,” she said, and reached up to kiss him on the cheek.  She hadn’t initiated physical contact with him before, and she was surprised by it.  She wasn’t sure when this had stopped being such a game, but it had and she knew she had to shut this down as quickly as she could. She didn’t want John to think this was a game to her anymore.  She nodded for him to come in and he shuffled in after her, shutting the door behind him.

“I thought we could go out for lunch, but I probably should have called first,” John said, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“No, that’s okay, if you just give me a few minutes to change, I’d love to go to lunch with you.”  She said, “And I suppose I should have thanked you for coming to meet my mum, you know, she can be a bit tough, but she liked you.”

John preened a little. “Did she?”

“Yeah, she did,” Rose said.

 He came up and settled his hands on her waist as she put the flowers in a vase and filled it with water.  She leaned back into his touch a little bit and barely heard him when he spoke.

“Or, I could just order takeaway for us, you know.” He said.  “I’d like to stay in with you, you look all comfy and soft.”

Rose giggled.

“Blimey, I said that out loud,” he groaned.  “I’m dreadfully embarrassing.”

“Hey, I thought you had work today,” Rose said, turning over her shoulder to look at him.  She didn’t want him to get in trouble, though she supposed that would be difficult when he ran the whole company.  

“I did, I took off,” he said, “I wanted to see you again.”

She’d never had a man do that for her, and she felt her heart swell.  “I’m glad.”

“Well, I’d hope so. I was afraid you'd be bored with me by now,” John said.

“Nah, not yet,” Rose smiled at him, and he grinned happily back at her.  She finished up with the flowers and leaned back against them.  “They’re beautiful,” she told him, “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, seeming chuffed that she liked them. “I’ve never bought flowers for anyone, so I didn’t know it you would like them or if you might find them offensive, I know certain flowers mean certain things, and i don’t know what that means-”

She turned around and put her hand over his mouth.  “They’re lovely,’ she said, smiling.  “And lucky for you, I don’t know anything about the meanings of flowers, so it’s alright.”  She smiled and took her hand off his mouth.

“Well, let’s get something to eat, shall we?”  
It was the most calm and casual date that she had ever been on, and she was quite contented in it.  She liked talking to him, as he told her about his work and asked her again to show her the artwork that she had done.

She was sitting on the opposite end of the couch, her feet wedged under his thigh, steaming cup of tea in her hand.  “It’s just art,” she mumbled. “I’m not good enough to do anything with them.”

“I could be the judge of that,” he said, looking over at her.  “I think you’re probably fantastic.”

“Why?”

He reached for her hand and she gave it to him. He kissed the back of her hand.  “You have very delicate hands,” he said softly, and you have vision, I can see it when you speak.  You always talk about things that are important to you with such passion.  That’s what makes a good artist.”

“Sweet talker, you just want to see my paintings.”

“And so what if I do?”

“Then come back with me, I’ll show them to you.”

He kissed her hand again and she giggled, standing and setting her mug down.  She walked back towards her bedroom, and he tagged along behind her.  Visions of the way she had been flashed through her mind. Had she been wanting to do what she was supposed to do, she would have thought about killing him right there, in her bedroom, but she couldn’t.  All that thought made her want to do was hug him close and never let him go. He was delicate, gentle, a flower that so easily wilted in the stress of his life.  She didn’t want him to ever be hurt, and now that she was out of the picture, and she didn’t want to hurt him, perhaps she could be better for him.  

Her own work wasn’t on her walls, it was in the back of her closet, so she gestured for him to sit on her desk chair.  She pulled out several small paintings and laid them out on her bed.

“Um, no one has ever seen these but me,” she said, tugging on the edge of her shirt. She looked at him to gauge his reactions.

She painted landscapes, mostly, but there was one portrait of her father, done from a picture of him that her mother had had.

“Who’s this?” John asked softly, having a feeling it was somebody important.

“That’s my dad,” Rose said, shifting from foot to foot.  “I never knew him, I was just a baby when he died.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and took her hand, tugging her against him. ‘But this… These are beautiful, Rose, you could present these to museums and I’m sure that they would take them.”

“Oh, stop, you don’t know that,”  Rose blushed a little.

“No, I don’t,” John smiled, “But I can see you’re talented, and you care about your work. You sold yourself too short on these, telling me about it.  But you’re good, you’re really good.” He picked up a portrait of her bedroom in her mum’s flat.  “These are true. There’s emotion behind them.” he turned to look at Rose. “I had no idea you were so amazing, well, I guessed, but I certainly didn’t know.”

She smiled tightly and shifted from foot to foot. “Thanks,” she said. She wasn’t used to compliments and this man was practically showering her with them, and it made her feel dreadfully valued.

“Thank you, really,” she said again, “I’ve never met anyone like you, and I’m glad that I’ve met you.”

“Me too,” he said, smiling.  “You’ve really helped me,” he said, “You know, sort my priorities in life.”

It struck her so quickly, how badly she wanted to kiss him. He was looking at her like she was the only woman he was capable of seeing, his eyes bright and twinkling.  He was so beautiful, and she had a feeling that he didn’t even know. How could he?  He hadn’t had many girlfriends, and he worked so hard there wasn’t time, but he’d made time for her, and she found herself falling dreadfully in love with him.  

She wasn’t sure when it had started, she only knew that she knew it now, and it was making her happy, and she wasn’t sure when the last time she felt happy was.  She took the painting from his hand and set it down on the bed before wrapping her arms around his neck.

He bent down and hugged her around the waist, nose pressed to her shoulder. The two of them stood there for so long that Rose forgot where she ended and he began.  His heartbeat against her cheek was reassuring and strong, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she had to quit her job.  She couldn’t carry on like this. 

He finally pulled back and pressed a kiss to her temple.  “You are so wonderful,” he said, “And I don't’ think you even know,” he said. “I don’t know that anyone’s ever told you.”

She smiled at him and reached up to frame his face in her hands, getting lost in the sensation of someone so obviously caring about her.  She pulled him down a little bit.  She hadn’t intended on kissing him, not exactly, but he leaned down the rest of the way and kissed her softly on the lips, chastely and with so much tenderness that Rose felt like weeping.  He pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers, eyes closed. 

The moment of tenderness was shattered by his mobile ringing.  John swore but didn’t do anything to answer it.  Rose giggled and nudged her nose with his.

“You should probably answer that.”

“No, I don’t think- I’m busy,” he said.

“Mm-hm,” She said, “You also run a business and you can’t just  _ not  _ answer calls,” she reminded him.

He groaned, “Oh, you’re right,” and pulled back from her a little and pulled out his mobile.  He answered it with an irritated “Hello?” He furrowed his brows. “Are you sure I’m needed? Right now?  Fine, no, it’s fine, really, just give me a few minutes,” he hung up and slid his phone back in his pocket.  “I have to go.’  
“I heard,’ Rose laughed.

“I’d rather stay.”

Her heart tugged, and she spoke the most honest words that she’d ever said. “I’d rather you stay, too,” she said softly.

He beamed at her and she walked him to the front of her flat. He bent down and gave her another kiss.  She slid her hand into his hair, keeping him closer for a few extra seconds. “I’ll see you soon?” She said when they broke apart.

“Yes.  I’d love to see you later,” he said. “I’ll call you.”

“Okay,” Rose said, nodding.

He squeezed her hand and left.  She was so dreadfully happy that she felt like she could fly.

Unfortunately, it was not often that things went right for Rose Tyler, and this was no exception. Her life was never supposed to work out.

Jack didn’t know why she was going to call, had no reason to know.  He just thought she was going to do something else about her job, and he couldn’t let her do that, not when Jack realized how John felt about Rose.  It wasn’t fair, and he couldn’t let Rose kill him. So, he was going to tell John about everything, and tell him to stay away from Rose when he sorted Rose out during their meeting.  Jack thought he was doing the best thing, that Rose still planned to do something malicious.

Rose had been having an excellent day, really, the morning of her meeting with Jack, and she got a call from John.  She answered it, feeling happiness swell through her with just the notion that she was going to speak to him.

“John, hi!” She said, and was about to speak more when he cut her off.

“How were you going to do it?” She’d never heard his voice sound so cold, and her heart nearly stopped.

“What?”

“You let me kiss you and date you and fall for you, and for  _ what?”  _ John hissed, “To make it easier on yourself? So you wouldn’t feel as guilty, knowing that old John Smith at least had one good run before-” he cut himself off. “Stay away from me.”

“What-”

“Rose Tyler, you stay away from me or I swear to God, I will call the police,” John said firmly. “How were you going to do it, Rose? How were you going to kill me?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, he just hung up, and Rose dissolved into tears.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose had never been one to cry over a man, but this was different, because he hadn’t  _ hurt  _ her, she had simply ruined everything that could have come out of this relationship. All she could see was what could have been, his smile and they way he held her, how it would have been to cuddle with him as they watched a movie or murmuring conversations across the darkness after they went to bed. 

She was suddenly furious with Jack. It had to have been him, to tell John everything.  He had warned her that she was getting in too deep, and she knew that!  That was why she was going to see him. And her meeting was still on. She was going to go.

Seeing red, no longer crying, though the tears had dried up on her cheeks, she threw her bag over her shoulder and stormed out the door.

She stormed all the way to the restaurant where she was supposed to meet Jack.  She tried not to throw the door open, though her blood was boiling.  She spotted him in the back of the restaurant, and stopped at the host.

“My friend is back there,” she told him.

“Oh, go ahead,” the host said, looking a little afraid.

Rose approached Jack and slammed her bag on the table. Jack startled and stared up at her, his eyes wide. “Rose, what the hell is wrong?”  

The fact that he had dropped their code names told her that he felt safe where they were.  She was about to make him feel very unsafe. Her hackles rose up and she tried not to shout at him. Her voice came out controlled and angry, full of so much restrained anger and passion that she had to clench her fists to control it.

“I called this meeting with you so I could quit this bloody job, and so you could help me get out of this thing with the Master. But you couldn’t  _ wait,  _ you couldn’t give it a single moment before you called John and told him everything?”

Jack’s face paled and his eyes grew even wider. “Oh, Rose-”

“Don’t. You’ve ruined _everything._ I could’ve told him myself, I could’ve gotten him someplace safe.  But you had to get involved before we could meet.”  
“Sit down, you’re drawing too much attention over here.”

Rose glanced around and saw that other patrons were staring over at them and murmuring to each other behind their hands. She felt her cheeks color with embarrassment.  She must look like a basket case.  She sat down across from Jack, immediately slumping in her chair, praying that no one would keep looking at her. She was wounded enough as it was.

Jack, for his part, looked ashamed and saddened by what she’d said. His voice was low when he spoke. “I only said what I said to John because i knew you were falling for him, and I couldn’t let you kill him. I’m sorry, Rose, if I had known-”

“That’s why I called you!” She hissed through gritted teeth.  “I called you so that I could get of this and be happy, and now it’s all ruined.”

“I’m sorry,” Jack said earnestly.  “Do you still want out?  Even though he hates you now?”  
Jack knew the answer to his question before he was even done asking it.  Rose looked at him, her eyes big, sad, and full of tears again.  

‘“I could never kill him,” she whispered, “Even though he hates me.”  She shook her head. “But he’s not safe now.  It’s all ruined, it really is.  The Master wants him dead so badly, Jack, that even if I’m out of the picture he’ll still go after him.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and finally admitted softly, “I need him to be safe.”

Jack breathed out a sigh. He really had mucked this up beyond belief, and certainly not on purpose. Deep down, he had always known that Rose wouldn’t stay in the business forever, that she would bolt as soon as something hit too close to home.  He ran his hand through his hair and leaned on his elbows to be closer to her.  “Here’s what I can do.  Because I’m your boss, I can get you out of your deal with the Master, but you have to wire the money he’s already sent you back to me.  Then I’ll tell John to disappear for a little while, leave his company with his cousin.”  He sighed and shook his head. “I really am sorry,” He said softly, “I had no idea you cared for him that much, I didn’t know you’d decided not to kill him.”

Rose slumped down in her seat and didn’t meet Jack’s eyes.  “He kissed me last night.”

Jack felt his heart crumple.  “Rose-”

“And then when he left my flat, I kissed him,” She wiped her nose and stared up at the ceiling. “And he says now that if he ever sees me again, he’s gonna call the police.”  She shifted in her seat. “I should go. I have to go get another job, after all, I’ve ruined my life and any chance I had at a good one.”  

Jack sighed, blowing out his cheeks. “I’m going to try to fix it.”

“And what if you can’t?”  
‘Then at least let me buy you lunch today?”  His voice was soft and held no hint of flirtation, and Rose knew he was serious.  She nodded a little, knowing she had a small fortune in the bank but also not wanting it to run out.  

They ate quietly and Jack apologized several more times, as his stomach churned over and over all through their lunch.  If there was one thing that he needed to get better at, it was communication.  He felt like kicking himself, seeing how sad Rose looked. Her heart wasn’t exactly broken, but she saw a new love snuffed, and Jack knew from experience that that was dreadfully painful.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Jack said, “To fix this. But as far as we’re concerned, you’re off the hook. You don’t work for me anymore.”

Rose nodded. “Are we still friends?”

“If you want to be,” Jack said quietly, “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to anymore,” he said.

Rose looked him in the eye, the strength returning to her posture. “I don’t want to lose you as a friend,” she said, “But if anyone asks, you’re a businessman and I have no idea what you do.”  
“And I have no idea where all your money came from,” he lifted his glass to her.

Rose left their lunch and called Keisha the moment she stepped outside the restaurant.  “Hey, Keish.  Wanna spend the day together? We can get our nails done.”

***************

Jack meant what he said about it all of it, and was doing his best.  The Master was livid when Jack got in contact with him, but Rose wired Jack the money from her phone so the Master was refunded in full.  Really, there wasn’t a lot about the situation that he could be mad about, so he expected that Rose was safe. John, on the other hand, might not be as safe.  He was not looking forward to that conversation, but it was one he was going to have to have for Rose, and if he was quite honest, so he could redeem himself.

“John Smith?”

“Oh, God, what do you want? Haven’t you done enough?”

“I’m calling about Rose Tyler.”

“I know, she was planning to kill me,” John said, his voice hard and sharp.  It was clear he was still reeling.

“Well, um, she just came to me crying, and I think I may have made a mistake,” Jack said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Actually, no, I’m certain I made a mistake. She had a meeting with me this morning and I disregarded her and came to you first.  And I shouldn’t have.”

“Are you going to explain yourself or just ramble?”

“Rose came to me to quit.  She doesn’t want to work this way anymore, and she wired back all the money that the…. Person who hired her sent to her.  She’s out.”

“And you’re telling me this why?”  
“She was actually falling for you,” Jack said, “She was.  That’s why she quit.  She couldn’t bear to see you dead, she couldn’t bear to be the one that caused it, and she couldn’t do the job anymore. She came to me in tears this morning.”

“Why, ‘cause she’s sorry?” John snapped, “Of course she’s  _ sorry,  _ but that doesn’t cut it for me.”

“I think you should talk to her-”

“If she comes anywhere near me I’m calling the police,” John snapped. 

Jack wanted to hit his head off the table. He really had royally mucked this whole thing up. “Maybe talk to her on the phone?”

“No.  I don't’ want to talk to her.”

“Okay, fine. Either way, John, you have to get out for a while.  Leave the country.  The guy who wants you dead, he’s not going to stop.  Leave the business with your cousin for a few months.  I’m sending police on your case.  But you have to protect yourself.”

John seemed taken aback by that, as he was quiet for a few moments. “Um, thanks?  Are you doing this so I talk to Rose?”

“I’m doing it  _ for  _ Rose,” Jack admitted.  “She’s scared for you, because she knows the guy who wants to be rid of you and she knows he won’t stop. She brought up her concerns to me earlier today.  I’d just like for you to be careful.”

“What, so Rose is acting like she cares?”

“She does.”

“Right.”

Jack groaned in frustration. “No, John, really, she does, and I’ve messed everything up because I didn’t talk to her first.  Just call her?”

“I’ll think about it,” John snapped. “But I’m not planning on it.  I’ll leave, and you can tell me when it’s safe to come back.”

“I’m going to call Rose and get the guy’s number from her,” Jack assured him, feeling like a weight had been lifted. “I’m sure she’ll be willing to help in any way possible.”  
John was quiet again. “Fine.  And I suppose I should thank you for this?”

“Any way you’d like, handsome,” Jack flirted, his guilt assuaging.

“Okay…. No, stop it,” John scolded.  “I suppose you’re like my personal protector now?” he asked.

“I can be,” Jack said, “I’ll keep an eye on you from afar, just let me know where you are, and tell the police where you’re going.”

John breathed out a sigh.  “Okay, fine,” he said, “I’ll do it.  But not for Rose.”

“I’m not asking you to do it for Rose.”

“Good.”

**********

“He broke up with you?” Keisha looked over at her friend, who was in the chair next to her, getting her fingernails painted.

‘Yeah.  Guess I wasn’t what he was looking for, or something,” Rose shrugged, and smiled at her friend. “That’s alright, though.  And I quit my job.”

“Well, that’s all well and good, because I didn’t even know what you did,” Keisha said, and smiled.  “Hey, you know, you should go take Uni classes.”

“What, seriously?” Rose turned to her friend with a little bit of surprise. “Like I could do that.”

“You could, Rose, you’re sharp as a tack.  I think you should do it, get a degree, live your fullest life.”

Rose thought about that. She had the money to, really, and that would be a noble thing to spend her bank money on.  It would be using her old self to get a fresh start.  She looked over at Keisha thoughtfully.

“I still need a job.”

“You still like art?”

“Yeah,” Rose said, nodding and frowning. “I just haven’t done it… Well, I have, but I’m just not as good as I used to be.”

“Doesn’t matter, you just need to like it. So why don’t you go and work at the art gallery in the city?” Keisha suggested, “That might be a good idea.”

Rose opened and closed her mouth. “Oh,” She said, “I didn’t even think of that.”

“Good idea, right?” Keisha preened. “You should do it.”  
“Will you go with me, when we’re done here?”

“Sure thing, babe.”

Rose felt her heart lift a little.  Maybe her life could continue on.  Even if she couldn’t stop thinking about John.


	9. Chapter 9

Rose got the job at the gallery, but it didn’t make her feel any less empty.  She was the receptionist, taking tickets and accepting money from people.  She had so much money in the bank that she could’ve gotten away with not having a job for several years.  She couldn’t do that, though, couldn’t just sit and do nothing.    
She sat in the break room during her thirty minute, one of the security guards reading a book in the corner.  He was nice enough, but Rose wasn’t necessarily friends with him.  They were friendly, cordial, and that was all Rose wanted out of any friendship at the moment.  Well, any friendship that wasn’t Keisha.

She was surprised when her phone rang and an unknown number popped up on the screen.  She answered, quietly, so she wouldn’t disturb the guard. “Hello?”

“Bad Wolf. You got out of our job.  Your boss wired me the money.”

Rose stiffened at the sound of the Master’s dark voice. “Yeah,” Rose said, her voice shaking a little. “I couldn’t do it, and I couldn’t take your money.”  She ran her hand through her hair. “Is there a reason you called me?”  
“I’m not going to stop,” the Master said, “I want John Smith dead, and I won’t quit until he’s gone.  You understand that, don’t you?  You haven’t said anything to him, have you?”

“No,” Rose said, “I haven’t spoken to him since he… Found out about me.  We’ve not been in contact.”

“So you won’t try to stop me?”  
Rose felt her heart pounding, but on some level, she knew that John was safe, because Jack had definitely gotten through to him and spoken to him. She knew that, and it made her feel a little better about him, but she was afraid for herself, if she was honest. This man’s voice was dark and rich, and there was definitely something off kilter about him.

“No,” she said softly, “I can’t, even if I wanted to. John hates me now.’  
“You sound like that makes you sad,” the Master said mockingly, “LIke you loved him or something.”

Rose closed her eyes. “I cared for him, okay?  But that’s all over now, so you don’t have to worry about me getting in your way, okay?” she felt herself getting irritated. “I’m clearly not allowed to have happiness.”  She clenched her fist under the table. “What do you want from me?”

“Watch out, Bad Wolf, I’m not done with you yet,’ He said, “You slowed my progress, though, I do thank you for sending my money back. It’s just so kind of you. ALthough, I always thought you were kind, and you’re a very good looking woman as well.”

“Don’t,” she said, “You and I are not friends.”

“Not yet, Bad Wolf. I’ll speak to the Face about you, see if I can’t get you back on the job.”

“I’m not coming back to the job,” Rose said, glancing at the guard, “I have a new job now, and I like it very much, thank you very much,” she said sharply. “I don’t want to hear from you again. I’m not going to hinder you, but I don’t want to help you. Alright?”  
The Master chuckled. “You don’t tell me what to do, Bad Wolf. No one does.  Have a good day at work, sweetheart. You might hear from me soon, and you might not, but just know that I’ll have my eye on you.”

Rose felt her blood run cold.  She hung up quickly, slamming her phone on the table, and stared at the wall in front of her.  This man was stalking her now? Even though she’d let go of his money, returned everything and told him she wasn’t going to hinder him, and yet he was still trying to torment her on some level?  It was sick. Her first thought was to call Jack, she needed to let him know what was going on. From now on, it was probably best that she started keeping him in the know on anything.

The guard, Rory, lifted his eyes and looked at Rose worriedly. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Rose said, smiling. “Excuse me.  I’m- yeah I’m good, thanks.”

“You’re white as a sheet,” Rory said, drawing his brows together.  “Why don’t you go splash some water on your face?”

Rose got shakily to her feet and picked her phone up, clutching it in trembling fingers. “Okay, not a bad idea,’ she said, “See you in a bit.”  
She bolted to the bathroom and braced herself against a sink, and dialled Jack’s number.  He picked up on the second ring.

“Rose? What’s wrong?” Jack asked immediately, “You don’t call me during the work day.”

“The Master just called me.”  Rose said it in a terrified, rushed voice, not sure what else to do about it besides just blurt it out, “Says he’s watching me.”

“What? How did he get your personal number?”

“I don’t know, you didn’t give anything to him about me, did you?” Rose demanded. 

“No, Rose, of course not!” Jack said, sounding offended that she would think that.  “I would never do that to you!” 

Rose put her head in her clammy hand. “I don’t know what to do, Jack. I’m terrified.”

“I told John to call you,” Jack blurted out, “Maybe he got it from John somehow.”

“Well John hasn’t called me,” Rose snapped. “He hates me, there’s nothing there anymore, so there’s no way that the Master got my number from him.”

Jack was quiet for a few moments. “You have his number thought, and he has yours.  It’s probable that the Master got your number from there.”

“He said he’s watching me,” Rose said.

Jack sighed deeply into the phone. “I don’t think he’s watching you,” Jack admitted, “I think he’s bluffing, trying to make you scared so you mess up and call John or something.”

“I want to call John,” she said softly, “But he’d never pick up, and I’m not sure what’s worse.”

“I know,” Jack said, “And don’t worry, I’m looking out for you from where I am, alright?  If anything even starts to happen to you, someone will be there to help you, to protect you.” 

“Where’s John?” Rose demanded.

“I’ve sent him somewhere else, outside of England,” Jack said. “He’s safe there.”

“Where?”

“I can’t say over the phone, Rose. You know how these things work.” His voice was gentle, and Rose knew that he was trying to do his best to be gentle, but he was also certainly annoyed with her for asking so many questions that would break protocol or make things worse.  She did  _ not  _ want to make things worse, and she kicked herself for trying to find John’s whereabouts.

“I want to talk to him.”

“I’m trying to get him to talk to you,” Jack said earnestly. “I really am, okay?  Just trust me on this.”  He was quiet for a moment, clearly gathering his thoughts. “It’s all going to be alright.”  

“I hope so,” Rose whispered. “Okay, so… You promise I’m safe?”

“Yes, Rose, I promise you’re safe.”

“Okay. And you’ll look out for me?”

“Yes, Rose.”  Jack’s voice was gentle, almost like he was talking to a child. “Now, you’re at work, right? Go back to work, we’ll speak soon, all right? Get lunch or something, go to a strip club, I don’t know.”

Rose laughed, but it was dry and forced. “Thanks, Jack,” She said, “I’ll talk soon.”

“Yeah.”

Rose didn’t really feel any better after she hung up, but she knew things had to be a little bit better for Jack to tease with her a little.  She splashed water on her face like Rory suggested and went back to work, trying not to think about the whole situation for the rest of the day.

****

Days later, Rose got another call, but this one had her staring down at her phone in shock. It was John.  Or at least, that was what the Caller ID said, and she wasn’t sure that it had ever lied to her before. She pressed the phone to her ear and said softly, “Hello?”  
“Rose?”

It was him.  She collapsed onto her couch, putting her head on her knees, trying to keep the world from spinning and twirling around her.

“John.”

“I- your friend told me to call you, said he made a horrible mistake in talking to me.” he cleared his throat. “I’m not- I’m not forgiving you, I just want to hear your side of the story,” he said, “Okay? Can you do that?”  
“Yeah, of course,” she said hurriedly. “I quit.  I was quitting my whole job, the day you called me.”

“You’re done?” John said dubiously, “And, no offense, but how am I supposed to believe you?”

“No, you’re right, you’ve got no reason to believe me,” Rose said, sitting up, “But I’m telling you, I’m not on file with… My friend any more.  I don’t belong on that agency, and all the money I got was wired back to the man who hired me.  I didn’t get any profit from any of this, I promise.  I was quitting because I was feeling something for you and I couldn’t do it.”

Rose felt like she was doing a lame job of explaining the whole thing, like she could be doing something to convince him that she was for real about the whole thing, but she realized that there was nothing else for it but the truth, and that was what she had done. She waited for a few moments, and John didn't speak.

“John?” She whispered, “Please say something.”

“I don’t know what to say,” he whispered, “So what are you doing now?”  
“I’m doing work at an art gallery,” she said, fidgeting a little, “I’m a receptionist, take tickets, that kind of thing.  I thought maybe I should start going farther into art, doing things I actually like.”

“Oh,” John said softly, “Straight and narrow, now, are you?” He asked, and she could tell that he was trying to sound cheerful but it wasn’t coming across very well.  After a few moments, she huffed a laugh into the phone.

“Straight and narrow, John.  I am.  I am sorry that this happened, I was going to tell you after I quit, but I- my friend that called you, he beat me to it.  Which, by the way, I ripped him apart for.”

“He mentioned that.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah, said he’d never seen you so angry.”

Rose fiddled with the fabric of her jeans. “I’ve never been so angry,” she told him. “Everything about that, feeling you ripped from me, hearing the hurt in your voice, it absolutely broke my heart and I didn’t know what to do, so I just yelled, because I knew you wouldn't want to ever see me again.”

“Do you know something, Rose?”

“What?” 

“I don’t think you’re good enough of an actress to pretend this,” he said, “I do not forgive you, absolutely not.  I don’t know if I ever can.  But hearing you now does make me miss you.”

“How could you possibly miss me?” Rose said bitterly, “I’m disgusting.”

He laughed. “We’ll strike a deal, you and me,” he said, “You will send me pictures of what you’re up to, and prove the legitimacy of it.  Then we’ll see what happens.”

“So we’ll be in contact?”  
“Yes,” John said, “But I’m controlling it, how much there is and how much there isn’t.  If at any point I don’t want to talk to you, I’ll stop talking to you,” John’s voice turned hard, “You made me trust you, Rose.  I trusted you, and I hate to say that I still care for you a lot.  But I don’t trust you, not as far as I can throw you.” he stopped for a moment.  “But yeah, I’m willing to give this a tentative shot.”

“Yes, anything,” Rose said, agreeing. “Just answer me one question, okay?”

“Depends on if I want to answer it or not,” he said coldly.

“Wherever you are,” she said, choking on the words, “Are you safe?”  
He was quiet for a few moments, and she could hear him breathing into the phone, so she knew that he hadn’t hung up on her. “Yes,” he said, “I’m safe. For now.”

“Don’t tell me where you are,’ she said quickly, “Phone calls and be recorded you know.”

“Your friend called me again, said the guy that… Hired you was after you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”  She said, though even she didn’t believe it.  "Talk soon?"  


"We'll see.  Goodnight, Rose."

"Goodnight," She whispered and hung up.  


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long!!! I've been trying to write the end of this chap since FOREVER, hope you guys like it!

The next few days passed with Rose feeling very nervous, looking over her shoulder at every moment. She would sit at her desk at work and chew her bottom lip, wondering if every man who came through the doors was the Master, coming to kill her for holding him off from killing John.    She was afraid for John, too, afraid that the Master would find him.  It was a moment like this where she was afraid for her own life, when a man would come in and buy a ticket and smile politely, and she would wonder if he knew more than he was letting on.  Her skin crawled and she was more and more uncomfortable the longer it lasted. 

She told Jack about it, who told her she should probably leave London, but she didn’t, and it was for entirely selfish reasons.  She wanted John to be able to get in touch with her as easily as possible, and she wanted to be near her mum and Keisha.

John didn’t call again.

She wasn’t sure what she expected.

The days dragged on, full of fear and sadness.  Rose wasn’ sure she’d ever felt so upset in her life. Nothing was going right, on the contrary, everything was entirely wrong, and a lot of it was her fault to begin with.  She thought to herself, every night before she went to bed, how things might have been different if she hadn’t mucked everything up so terribly.  Maybe John would be going to bed with her, his arms wrapped around her and nose buried in her hair.  Maybe they would have whispered their love to one another before falling asleep in each other’s arms.  Maybe they would stay up late watching telly.  It was all the possibilities that she wanted and didn’t deserve, not anymore.

Since Rose established to herself that she had no personal restraint, she texted him.  

_ I miss you, and I’m sorry, and I want nothing more than to fix it. _

She sent it before she could regret it, needing to be in contact with him. She knew that he wanted to see where she was working, to prove she wasn’t lying, but it was very difficult to share that part of her life with him when she’d been secretive before. 

She sent him a picture of her view from work with her desk and name plate in the photo.  It was dreadfully forward, sending both at once.  It made her heart race with nervousness, as she waited for him to text her back.

Her phone alerting her to a text had her fingers itching to grab for it, but luckily for her job she waited until she had sold tickets to the rest of the queue and she was left alone in the lobby.  She picked up her phone and hurriedly opened the text.

_ A beautiful gallery.  Their Van Gogh pieces are some of his best. _

Rose furrowed her brows at her phone. This art gallery didn’t have any van Gogh pieces.  She had a feeling he knew that and was trying to test her. It made her heart hurt, that he thought he had to trick her to get honesty out of her.  

_ We don’t have any Van Gogh pieces here,  _ she replied to him, feeling certain of it, and she wondered if it was worth even trying to repair this relationship. Did he even want it?  Any of it?  Maybe she should just move on, find a man who never knew who she had been.  Part of her thought that would be the best thing for her, but another part of her, the part of her that was desperately drawn to him and didn’t want to let him go, knew that he was special and it would be worth it wait him out.  To wait until he was ready for her to come back.  Maybe she could go to wherever he was, keep him safe, and they could be safe together.  

She heaved a heavy sigh. It didn’t do her any good to think this way.  She received a text and it drew her attention.

_ I know.  Was wondering if you did. _

_ I’m not lying to you. _

_ I see that now. Sorry. _

Well, that was a step in the right direction, Rose thought. That he knew she wasn’t lying about her job, if nothing else. She wished that she could see his face or hear his voice. She didn’t text him back, not knowing what to say.  She just wanted him to feel like he could speak to her, and everything was wildly awkward. 

The two of them talked off and on for days, and Rose got more and more nervous as the days passed on and she grew more and more paranoid.  There were a few people who came in as regulars, which was odd at such an expensive art gallery, and it made Rose very nervous.  She knew that somehow, Jack was keeping an eye on her where she was, though she wasn't informed on how he was doing it. She didn’t really want to know.  It was easier for her to just live thinking of Jack as her guardian angel, watching over and making sure that she was safe.

John called her one night when she was arriving from work, and she picked up on the first ring, not caring how desperate she sounded.

“You’re not safe and neither am I,’ He said, “I called your friend, and he said that someone is watching you.”

Rose felt her heart drop. She knew that.  She  _ knew  _ that. “I know,” she voiced her thoughts.

“You know?”  
“I thought I told you,” she said, frowning “Or maybe you just weren’t listening. The guy who hired me isn’t letting it go, John, he’s furious with me.  He’s livid and he’s following me, I know that,” Rose put her head in her hands, “I’m doing a lot to try and keep myself safe.”

John sighed into the phone, and she heard it and it made her heart ache.  She waited for him to speak, trying to not say anything. 

“You’re… I didn’t realize you were so unsafe.”  
“My friend is keeping an eye on him for me, but I think he might be coming to the art gallery and… Seeing me. I don’t know what he looks like, so I can’t do anything about it.” Rose paused. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t know,” John said, “I just know that I’m really worried about you,” he said softly, “And I thought… I thought you might be lying to me, about quitting.  But your ex-boss seems really, really worried about you.”

Rose rubbed her forehead. “He is, he’s been checking in on me as much as he can,” Rose said, “But I want to keep my job here, I just got it.”

“You can’t stay there if you’re not safe.”

“Yes I can,” Rose said, :”I can start a real future for myself,” she said, “I can start doing art more seriously, and I could go to Uni.”

John made a noise in the back of his throat that translated as an odd grunt across the phone. “You could do Uni where I am.”

“I can’t come there, you said you didn’t want to see me again,” Rose said sharply.

“I’ve been talking to your friend… he got me in contact with your mother. I asked her what you did, and she backed you up on the art gallery, and wondered when I’d be coming round for tea again.  And she asked what I had done to make you so upset.”

“What did you tell her?” Rose demanded, afraid.

“I told her that we broke up,” he said softly, “Told her that I ended it.”

Rose choked on a sob. “Yeah,” she said, “Thought you might say something like that,” she said, her voice cracking.

“But… It shows that you weren’t lying,” he said softly, “Because I doubt your mother would be able to lie if she wanted to… And I don’t think that you would lie to her.”

“She never knew what I did,” Rose said, “I just said that I quit my old job and got a job at the art gallery.”

“That’s what she said,” John said, “That she couldn’t get it out of you, assumed you were a temp or something.’ he sniffed.  “I think you should talk to your friend about being relocated.”

“John, I can’t,” Rose said desperately, ‘My job, my mum, I just got a relationship back with her, I can’t put that in jeopardy by disappearing,” She wanted to hang up, but she didn’t want to get rid of him, didn’t want him to be off the line.

He took a heavy breath. “I don’t forgive you, Rose, not yet.  But I think… I think you do regret what you’ve done.  And I want to see all your papers on what you’ve done, and I want you to tell me about it.”

“John, I can’t send you that stuff in the mail.”

“I know.  When you come here,” he said, “I know you’re not safe, no matter how much you want to stay at your job.  You can come to Uni here, I know you probably have the money.”

Rose wanted to be happy that he wanted her with him, but he probably didn’t want her  _ with him.   _ He just wanted her safe because they had cared about each other. And she still cared so, so deeply for him.  He probably just wanted her safe so he didn’t have to feel guilty when she was killed by the Master. 

“I can’t,” Rose said, tears welling up in her voice.  “I want to be there, but I have to keep moving forward with my life.”

John sighed heavily. “I’m not going to stop you from it,” he said, “But talk to your friend, see what he says.”

Rose had no idea how quickly her mind would change.  John and Rose rang off with their usual, curt goodbyes that had no personality behind them.  No tenderness, no affection.  It made Rose sigh heavily as she threw down her cell phone and put her head in her hands. Everything was ruined, and she wasn’t sure that she’d ever be able to put the pieces back together again, not after all this.

She started getting ready for bed, mechanically going through the motions of showering and washing her face, putting her pajamas on, plugging her mobile into the wall, and getting into bed. She stared up at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep.  For hours, she lay there, until there was some rustling at her door.  She froze.

She heard two people whispering, and rolled over in bed to pick up her phone. She dialed Jack quickly and breathed a sigh of relief when he quickly picked up.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Rose, what’s going on?”

“There’s two guys outside my door, figured I’d let you know before I call the police.”

“Call the police,” Jack said firmly, “I’ll be right there too.”he said, and hung up.

Rose dialed 999 and phoned in her problem quietly.  She had called Jack first because she thought it would be easier, that he could take care of it, because the Master could easily out her to the police, even if Jack had all his papers.  She wished she’d never gotten into the business, it had ruined so many things. 

Rose got out of bed and tiptoed to her closet, crawling in behind her long dresses so she was mostly obscured from view.  She clutched her mobile in her hand, wanting to call the police or Jack again, just to make sure they were coming, but she couldn’t do that.

She heard mild thumping, like someone was pushing on her door, and she felt the lock break in her very soul.  She closed her eyes and prayed silently that Jack and the police would arrive soon.

The people in her flat seemed to be taking their time, walking about her living area and talking quietly to each other, inspecting her things.  She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall, praying they wouldn’t find her.

Maybe they weren’t even here to kill her, maybe they were here for something else.  She wished that was it, with all her might, but she wasn’t sure she believed it.

Minutes passed, and she heard Jack busting into the already unlocked door. “Hey!” He shouted, “Not your flat, sirs!” 

She heard fists colliding with flesh and a tussle ensued. There were people crying out and shouting in pain, and Rose curled her fingers into her palms.  

At the sound of police sirens, Rose heard a voice shout “Oh,  _ shit,”  _ and people running.  Jack shouted after them but finally came back to Rose’s room.  

“Rose?” He called out.

She opened the closet door carefully, and upon seeing Jack, threw herself out of it and into his arms, shaking wildly.  He gripped her about the waist with one arm, rubbing her back with the other. 

“It’s okay,” he said, “It’s okay, I saw what they looked like…” He pulled back and stared down at her, blue eyes cutting through her like glass.  “You can’t stay here.”

“I can’t leave!” She said. 

“I’m willing to move into the safe house John is in, with you as well,” Jack said, “I can get permission from the guy above me, please, Rose.  You can’t-”

“I was gonna go to Uni,” Rose said, tears welling up in her eyes, “I was gonna keep working at the art gallery.”

He cupped her cheeks. “Rose.  No,” he shook his head, “We could get them to hold your job, say you have to go into hiding because you were a witness of something, but it’s not enough to go into Witness Protection.  Please.”

Her face crumpled. “John still hates me.”

“Rose-”

“I have nothing to gain if I live.”

“If they don’t catch the Master, Rose, he’ll kill you.”  
Rose slumped. She knew that he was right, but didn’t know what to say about it.  She tipped her forehead against Jack’s chest and he hugged her again, 

The police entered, and Rose felt so hazy about the whole thing that she barely held her own attention as Jack described the men who had been in her flat. 

“Miss Tyler, do you feel safe here?” The officer asked her.

“Jack will stay with me,’ she said hoarsely.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m her friend, and I was her boss for a while.”  Jack said, explaining himself.

Rose nodded. “I called him before I called you,” She said, “But will you find them?”

“We’ll sure try, Miss Tyler, but I think you should probably live somewhere else.”

Jack sighed, “That’s what I told her.”

“You might want to consider it, ma’am.  We found a knife outside your door.”  
After finishing up the rest of the procedure, which really wasn’t much because the police couldn't really do anything without having the guys in custody.  Rose turned to Jack and said softly, “Yeah, maybe I should go.”

He rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.  “Yeah, I think so,” he said, “But we’ll figure out your life here, make sure it’s still here when you come back, okay?”  
Rose nodded, feeling completely empty.  She was going to have to leave her life again, the life she had just managed to return to.


	11. Chapter 11

Jack stayed in Rose’s flat that night, and she finally asked him the question that she had been wanting to since she found out John was gone.

“So where is John?” She asked softly, on her third cup of tea.  “Can you tell me that?”

Jack nodded, settling back on the couch.  “He’s in America, at a safe house with some police officers looking after him.”

“And that’s where you want to send me?” Rose asked, raising her eyebrows a little.

He smiled meekly at her, “Yeah,” he said, “I think you would be safest there, and I need you to be there.”

She shook her head. “I don’t  _ need  _ to be there, but you  _ think  _ that I need to be. Don’t you?”  She arched an eyebrow at him and he nodded firmly, keeping eye contact with her the whole time.

“You’re in danger here,” Jack said simply, “I know it and so do you.  I can get them to hold your job at the art gallery, Rose, I promise, but these guys came to your flat looking to kill you.  Now, if you want, I can live here, in your flat, and look after it while you’re gone, until it’s safe, but I cannot let you stay in London.”  
“I was just starting to get a life for myself,” Rose replied, slamming her fist on her knee.  “I was going to be happy, I was going to get my degree.”  
“And you still can,” Jack took her by the upper arm, forcing her to look at him. “Please, Rose, you’re being so stubborn.  Your life is at stake here, and you think that it isn’t because you’ve taken life, but you are still mortal!  Please.  I’ll help you back, but let’s take you to that safe house.”

Rose chewed her lip. “Where’s the safe house?” she asked.

“It’s in California,” Jack said, “Not the city, not LA, but this cute little suburban area,” he said, smiling a little at her.  “John’s making friends with his neighbors, I hear.”

“And you want me to stay with John.”

“Yes, I think you’d be safest with him.”

“He wouldn’t want to stay with me,” Rose said, setting her tea down. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the couch.  “It’s never going to be enough, no matter how many times I tell him the truth or say sorry, he’ll always know what I was going to do.”

Jack shook his head. “We’ve spoken about it, he told me that he wants you safe.”

She blinked. “What?”  
“He is absolutely terrified for you, Rose.  After he spoke to your mum and you about everything he was really worried about you.  But he wasn’t going to tell you that, because he needs you to know that he doesn’t trust you.  But he cares about you, Rose, he really does.  Please realize that.”

She chewed her bottom lip and looked away from him. ‘I know,’ she said, “I know that he does, he’s been talking to me after all, and there’s no reason for him to do that.  I want him to trust me again.”

“Then come with me,” Jack said, “Let me take you to America, I’ll sort everything for you here.  I promise.”

Jack was watching her so intently, and she had never seen him so focused.  She hung her head and nodded against her chest. 

“Okay.”  
*******

They were gone in the morning.  The art gallery was told that Rose was going into a sort of (but not quite) Witness Protection, and they were all very concerned about her.  Rose appreciated it, she really did, and was glad that her job was going to be held for her until she came back.

By the afternoon, they were on a plane and headed to California. Jack was with her, just to be a buffer between her and John for a little bit.  Rose was glad for that, as she was not really sure what she would be doing without him there.

They arrived in California and Rose was jittery and anxious the whole time.  Jack didn’t take her to John’s safe house until midnight, in case anyone had possibly traced them.  They were escorted to the safe house, which was, as Jack had said, in a very nice suburb, and Rose found herself staring at it through the window like a little kid seeing a city for the first time.

“It’s so quiet,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess it would be,” Jack said, “Everyone in California is high most of the time.”

She reached over and smacked his shoulder. “Shut up, you don’t know that.”

He laughed and looked out the window with her.  “It is nice, though, I think you’ll like it.  Think of it as a holiday, Rose.”

“Okay,” Rose whispered, glancing over her shoulder at him. “But if I don't’ have fun, I’ll throttle you.”

He barked out a laugh. “Yes, ma’am.”

Arriving at the house was another matter entirely. It was beautiful, quaint, and Rose felt her heart pick up at the little white picket fence and charming trimmed bushes. She swallowed hard and got out of the car, staring at the front door.  

John was behind that door, either cursing her existence or waiting to welcome her in.  She wasn’t sure which and that was the most terrifying bit of the whole thing. She scratched the side of her face, just needing to do something with her hands, when Jack came up behind her with some of her luggage.  

“The guard is gonna do a loop and come back, take up post,” he said, “There’s cameras in the house, someone is looking out for you, but not in a creepy way.  No cameras in bedrooms or bathrooms.  There are cameras  _ pointing  _ at the bedrooms, in case someone tries to sneak in through the window.  Other than that, watch where you go naked.” he winked at her and she let out a nervous giggle.  Her smile fell within a few moments and she shook her head. 

“This is gonna be really awkward,” she whispered.

“It’s alright,” Jack reassured her, though she didn’t think he sounded so sure himself.

The two of them made their way to the house with all of Rose’s luggage, up the walk and to the door.  Jack adjusted his grip on his luggage to slide a key into the lock and let them into the house.  It was mostly dark with a lamp on by the couch.  John was lying on said couch, his head on the armrest and wrapped up in an afghan.  He was clearly asleep, and Rose’s heart melted at the sight of him.  He looked dreadfully sweet, and she could only hope that he would continue to be that sweet when he woke up and saw that she was here.

“John, your new roomie is here!” Jack shouted, loud enough to startle John enough that he almost rolled right off the couch.  He sat up and glared at Jack. 

“Why would you shout?”

“It’s fun,” he shrugged.  “Are you going to come say hello?”

John looked to Rose. he smiled a little, but his eyes were guarded.  “Hello,” he said softly, “So you’re in trouble too.”

“They came to my flat last night.”  
“Who’s they?” John asked, furrowing his brows a little.

Jack shrugged, “We don’t know,” he said, “Rose was sitting in her closet hoping they wouldn’t find her when the police and I showed up,” he shook his head, “I’m going back to London to look after her flat.  How’s the Airlines?”

“Fine,” John said, ruffling his hair.  “It’s um, a bit difficult to run from the computer, but Donna is a big help, and we’re doing well.  Things are as they should be.”

“More or less,” Rose mumbled. “Jack, where’s my room?”

“I’ll get you settled in,” Jack said, “And then the two of you have got to talk to each other, because we won’t be doing this awkward back and forth thing, all right. I won’t allow it.”  

“I’m not being awkward!” John protested.

“You’re the most awkward person I’ve ever met,” Jack said, “And Rose is staying with you, so you’d better be nice.”

John sputtered a bit. “Then, come on, give her bag here, I’ll settle her in.”  He took the rolling bag from Jack and glared at him.  Jack just grinned in response.  It was, after all, the exact reaction that he had wanted. 

Rose blushed a little and looked away.  She felt dreadfully shy around him, and wasn’t sure quite what to do with herself now that they were alone.  John picked up the suitcase and led her up the stairs to a bedroom with plain white linens and soft yellow walls.  It was charming, if not jarring, since it was so drastically different from her room in London.  She glanced around, looking at how simple and elegant everything was, like this was designed to be the best room of the house so that the guest would enjoy it.

“I know, it’s nice,” John said softly when he saw her staring, “All this… Like a holiday, except not at all.”

“I’m sorry,” She whispered.  She dropped the bag she’d been holding and sat down heavily on the bed, putting her head in her hands. “I am so sorry, and I’ll never be able to tell you that enough.”

John shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, wanting to comfort her but not knowing how on Earth to do so.  Especially not now that he knew who she really was, or rather, who she had been.  She was a bit different now.

“I don’t want you to say that you’re sorry anymore,” he said finally, tone low and cautious.  

“You don’t?” She asked, blinking up at him.

He shook his head. ‘I can see it in your face now. Who you are. Couldn’t do that before, you know.  You were really guarded.  You look like a whole different person.”

She felt oddly touched.  Maybe there was a way to repair this after all, if he saw her as a different woman. Or maybe he’d already found an American woman who enjoyed his affections as much as she did, and that other woman would probably be a better bet because she wasn’t a former assassin.

She wiped her nose. “How have things been here?”

“Fine,” John shrugged, “As well as can be expected. Our neighbors are nice.”

She laughed. “Never had neighbors that weren’t drunk or kept to themselves half the time.”

In spite of himself, John smiled at her, and she could’ve sworn that she saw some scrap of affection in his eyes.  “Well, it’s a young couple and their two year old daughter. Bloody precious, they are.”  
“A baby?” She asked, perking up a little.

“Toddler.”

“Right.”

They watched each other for a little bit, and John finally held his hand out to her.  “Can I give you a hug?” he asked softly.

“You trust me enough for that?” She asked, surprised. 

He smiled a little.  “Yeah. Nothing more, though.”

“That’s okay,” Rose said, getting to her feet and wrapping her arms around his waist before he could change his mind.  She squeezed him tight and John wrapped his arms around her, hands on her back. 

She breathed out a shuddering sigh and gripped him tighter.  He seemed dreadfully surprised, and he squeezed her a little tighter.

“You really are different,” He said, “I’ve never seen you this vulnerable.”  His voice was quiet when he spoke. 

She squeezed her eyes shut, afraid to answer.  “Losing you made me realize I’m the biggest arse on the planet, and I want to fix this and I don’t think I ever can,” she admitted. ‘But I want things to be okay.”

John rested his cheek on her head. “We’ll talk,” he said softly, “We will.  But for now, I think you need some rest.  Jack will probably talk to us about how we’re going to explain you tomorrow.”

Rose reluctantly pulled back.  “Okay,” she said softly, ‘You’re probably right.”

He smiled at her, a little tightly, and backed away a little. “I’m gonna go chat with Jack for a bit.  Have a good night.”

“You too, John,” she said, but she just kept staring at him.They stared at each other for what felt like forever, until John finally laughed and stepped outside her door. 

“Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”  As he left, she shut the door behind him and let out a long breath. Perhaps everything would be fine after all.  Or, at the absolute very least, neither of them would die.


	12. Chapter 12

When Rose woke up, she forgot briefly where she was and sat up and stared about at her surroundings. She felt disoriented until she remembered who she was and what she needed to do.  She hung her head and got out of bed, her heart feeling very weighted in her chest.  She pulled on a dressing gown over her pajamas, and shuffled downstairs, to where Jack was already making tea and breakfast.  

John was sitting on the couch watching telly, and when Rose glanced over at him he looked up at her.  He smiled a little but went back to watching telly, and the urge to go curl up at his side and snuggle until she fell back asleep.  She clenched her fists at her sides and walked to join Jack in the kitchen.

“Hi,” she said, her voice croaking with disuse.

“Good morning, lovely,” Jack grinned at her. “Did you sleep well?”

Rose nodded.  “I’m still tired.”  
He nodded back at her.  “Ah, jetlag,” he said, “My old friend.  You’ll feel better within  a couple days.”

She pushed her toes in the tiles and looked away from him. “So… How long do you think we’ll be here?”  
“We’re working on tracking phone calls back to the Master,” Jack said, “When we apprehend him, you’ll be able to go back home,” he smiled at her, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be alright, I promise.”

Rose nodded. “Yeah, okay,” she said, “But how are we going to explain me to the neighbors that John’s already made friends with?”

Jack flipped the eggs he was cooking in the pan.  “Well, the idea that John and I talked about was that you’re a friend from Uni.  Doesn’t pigeonhole you into any set role, easy to remember.”

“And what, I just wanted to travel?”

“Pretty much,” Jack said, “And you knew John was here in the US so you decided to stay with him while you were visiting.”

“What about the guard?”  
“Nobody knows about the guard, it’s just you and John. So it’s best you don’t mention that someone is looking after you.  Alright?”

Rose agreed and Jack handed her two plates, telling her to take one to John. He announced that they would be eating in front of the telly because he didn't want to deal with any awkward silences that would be happening because John and Rose were having a hard time talking to each other. 

He stayed in the kitchen cooking as she took John a plate.  She handed it to him and he looked at it and then back up at her warily.  She shifted from foot to foot. 

“I didn’t cook it, Jack did,” she said meekly, “In case you were worried.”

He suddenly looked very guilty.  Apparently, he hadn’t meant to be that transparent about the whole thing.  She looked away from him and sat curled up in an arm chair as far away from him as she could get.

“I meant what I said,” he said softly, “I’ve never seen you as vulnerable as I did last night. I’ve never seen your eyes look like that.”  He swallowed and looked away from her, down at the plate in his lap.  “I just… I can’t trust you yet.”

“I’m not angry with you,” she said, “I’m angry with myself, for not insisting to Jack that I needed to talk to him sooner. I’m angry with myself for not telling you myself so that everything would be… Up front.”

“It would’ve been easier, coming from you,” he told her softly, “It would’ve been easier to-”

“Stop,” she said, putting her head in her hands. “I know.  I know, and I should’ve told you the moment I started falling in love with you, but I was afraid, and I’ve never felt like this. I didn’t know what to do with it.”  She realized what she said and felt her cheeks burning and quickly picked up her fork and started eating. She didn’t want to think about it at all.  She could feel John staring at her and was a little bit uncomfortable under his piercing gaze.

He looked at her for a little while longer and then said softly, “You mean that.”

“Obviously,” she mumbled.

“No, I mean, you  _ really  _ mean that.” He shifted in his seat, “All the time we were dating, I would look at you and touch you and got almost no emotional response, and I didn’t understand what I was doing wrong.  You were holding back, it wasn’t me at all.  And then that last night, when we kissed… I think that’s when I got a glimpse of who you really are.  And that’s… the you that’s right in front of me.”

She felt herself tearing up. “What do you want me to say?”

“When Jack leaves, I want you to tell me about the people you killed.”

She closed her eyes. “Why?”

“I won’t tell you why until you do it,” he said softly, “And you’ll see why, just…  Will you do it?”

“It’s not easy to talk about that stuff,” She said cautiously, “But yeah, I’ll do it, if that’s what you want from me.”

She still wasn’t looking at him, and he kept staring at her, until finally, he sat back in his seat and picked up his fork. “Yes, that’s what I want from you.” His voice was quiet, “I’m not trying to control you, Rose, I’m-”

“You don’t have to explain,” she cut him off. “I get it. Believe me, I do.  I’d hate me too, right now, if I were you.”  She rubbed her eye, “I don’t blame you.”

He didn’t negate her statement, didn’t say he didn’t hate her, but he would never confirm it, because as much as she had hurt him, he was gentlemanly to a fault, and he would never do anything to try and make her cry. And the way she was looking now, it looked as though she really might cry, so he decided it would be best to not try and continue the conversation.

After a few more minutes, Jack entered the room and sat down on the other end of the couch that John sat on.  “I doubt I missed anything, the way you two  _ aren’t  _ talking to each other,’ he said, a teasing note in his voice.  “You two should know I’m leaving this evening.”

“I thought you’d stay longer,” Rose said, sounding a little dismayed.

He smiled at her, “I know you’ll miss me, Rosie, but you’ll simply have to make do with your new roomie,” he winked at John, “You should introduce her to the neighbors tomorrow, John.”

“Why not today?” John asked.

Jack blinked. “Thought the two of you might want to get acclimated to living together first.”

“No, I think we should just get it over with, so that we  _ can  _ get acclimated.”

Rose nodded. “I agree,” she said softly, “I’m going to go wash my hair,” she said softly, and Jack noticed that she had already cleared her plate, as though she couldn’t get out of the room fast enough. 

‘What happened while I was in the kitchen?” Jack demanded, looking over at John.

“Uh. I think I upset her, “ John admitted.

“I thought it would be the other way around,” Jack said, stabbing at his eggs.  

“Me too,” John said, “But she does… I’m trying to be careful around her.  She was going to kill me, and I think she thinks that I don’t ever want to go near her ever again.”

“Can you blame her?”

“Not really.”

Jack let out a long sigh. “You know, she didn’t want to come, you know.”

“What? She was in danger, why wouldn’t she want to come?”

Jack wasn’t sure that he should be telling John about Rose’s plans, but he also didn’t want to keep anything secret. “She was going to go to Uni, start to go more in depth with her art, better herself.  She wanted to be good, and I think part of that was for you, even though most of it was for her.”

John closed his eyes. “So she wanted to stay and make a life for herself.”

“She also didn’t want to see you again. I think she didn’t want to disappoint you again, or see the disappointment in your face. Even after the Master broke into her house, she was adamant that she stay until I’d convinced her we could get her job held for her and everything would be alright.”

John looked over at Jack, surprised, “You really think that?”

“I know that, John.”

The two men sat in silence, as John tried to figure out how he was going to handle this all.  “So, we introduce her to my neighbors as an old friend, and that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“What does she want from me?”  John demanded suddenly, “I need to know.”

“I think she just wants you to forgive her,” Jack replied.  “How did you sleep last night?”

John looked away.  “I locked my door and put a chair under the handle so she wouldn’t come in,” He said quietly.

Jack rolled his eyes, “I’ve known Rose far longer than you have,” he said, “And she would’ve  _ never  _ done that.  Never.  Her contract is broken and it put her in danger.  She returned all the money and she’s still in trouble.  The guy who hired her was watching her, but I don’t think she realized how closely.  He knew her location at all times, studied her, like he had been planning on her bailing out.  Honestly, John, she might be in a scarier situation then you.”

“Then how do you know that man didn’t follow us?” John demanded.

Jack blinked.  “Well, Rose and I are not new to this. We took precautionary measures, and switched cars three times on the way to the airport, and Rose was disguised once in the airport. If he goes to her work, they’ll say she still works there. No one followed us.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Rose was introduced to the neighbors, a young couple on their left and a huge family on their right, as John’s old friend from Uni.  The woman from the big family, who looked exhausted and was older, smiled at her gently.

“Oh, to be young and lovely again, like you,” she said when she shook her hand.

“Anyone that can care for their family and hold so much love in their heart is beautiful to me,” Rose replied, smiling as she watched one of the younger children cling to his mother’s leg. John looked at her in surprise after she spoke. Clearly, he had not expected something like that from her.  Perhaps this was not at all the woman he had dated, and he had dated her alter ego and not her true self.  He looked away from her.  He didn’t want to let himself get drawn in again, not after all this. They were going to be safer together, and that was it, nothing more.  

That night, when Jack got ready to leave, Rose felt herself panicking.  She didn’t want him to go, didn’t want to have to sit down and have a chat with John.

“And where does the guard stay?” She demanded, “I haven’t seen him all day.”

“Well, you wouldn't, he lives in the finished basement, and you don’t need to go down there,” Jack replied.

“And how does he get groceries?” Rose put her hands on her hips, thinking she had stumped him.

John cleared his throat. “When I go to the grocery store, so does he,” he said, “That way he’s watching me and getting groceries.”

Rose didn’t have any more impossible questions, so she settled for going up to Jack and hugging him. 

“Don’t leave me,” she whispered.

Jack sighed and hugged her tight. “I’m not abandoning you, Rosie.  I’m a phone call away, and don’t forget, I’m looking after your life for you. It’s going to be fine, I promise.”

He had to pry her off him, and she looked up at him with panic in her eyes.  Jack’s face softened as he saw how truly worried she was. 

“I’m keeping my finger on the pulse of this situation, don’t worry,” he said, “I will not rest until this guy is caught, do you understand me?  I promise you.”

Rose nodded and hung her head, feeling helpless and small. He pressed a kiss to Rose’s forehead and reached over to shake John’s hand.

“Make her some tea or something so she doesn’t get hysterical,” he said, “I didn’t realize I was her security blanket.”

“I’m still right here,” she mumbled, seeming very put out.

Jack laughed. “We know, gorgeous. Have a good night.”

Jack left and Rose was left standing with her arms crossed over her chest, feeling dreadfully alone.  John came to stand next to her. 

“I’m make us some tea,” He said softly, and Rose nodded wordlessly.  She turned from the door and sat down on the couch, waiting for John to return.  She was already feeling a bit better.

When he came back, he sat down primly next to her and handed her a cup of tea.  She mumbled her thanks and had barely taken a sip when he spoke.

“I don’t mean to push you, Rose, I really don’t… But we do need to talk.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tiny warning for mentions of Rose's past murders, but other than that, solid fluff

Rose scowled at him, “Do you want me to cry?”

He blinked. “What? No!”

“Because you keep saying that you don't want to push me, but you are really pushing me,” she ran her hadn’t through her hair and crossed her arms, trying to close herself off.  “I know I need to talk about it, about who I killed, to put you at ease, but did it ever occur to you that I’m a person too, John? That maybe this isn’t all about you anymore?”  
When he froze and looked incredibly sheepish she knew that she was right.  She looked down and heaved a hard breath.  She walked to the couch and sat down heavily. 

“Rose, I’m sorry.”

“Sit down.  If you want to talk about it, we’ll talk, and then I’m going to bed.”

John swallowed. “No, you don’t have to,” he said softly, “You’re right, I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry.”  He furrowed his brows at her, “But you should be sorry too.”

“Shut up!” She shouted, and it was the first time she had been angry with him, so he stepped back, a little afraid of her.

Against her will, tears started to rise in her eyes and she pressed back into the couch, leaning forward while pushing back with her feet. “If you don’t think I’m sorry by now, you’re an idiot,” she snapped, “I’m sick of you pretending that you’re the only one who’s been through hard things.  I  _ know  _ you have been, but you don’t think any of this has been difficult for me? I was putting my life back together, John, I had a job, and they’ll hold it for me, but we don’t know how long I’m going to be in America!  It could all be messed up all over again.”

John sat down on the armchair, catty-corner to her. “Can we start this conversation over?”

“You’ll never trust me again,” she said, as though she hadn’t heard him. A tear fell through her lashes and to her cheek.  “You know I’m sorry and you don’t care.  And I don’t blame you.  But you can’t keep digging at me.”  She put her head in her hands. “If you want me to talk, let me talk and don’t make it even more difficult!”

John suddenly felt very guilty.  “Let’s start over,” he said softly, “Let’s talk.”

She still scowled at him, looking up from her hands, but she sat back against the couch.  “I killed two people,” she said, staring at her feet.  “I didn’t meet either of them, before I did it.”

“Who?” John asked.

“They were both cheating husbands,” she said, “One of the wives was pregnant, and the other one… He beat his wife.”  Rose’s eyes glazed over as she remembered what the women had looked like, what they thought of.  

“I’ll never forget the bruises on her,” she said, “I’ll never forget how torn down she looked, how… Ashen. She didn’t know what else to do, he wouldn’t let her divorce him,” she chewed her lip and glanced to John. “He’d been brought up on assault charges before.”

John looked like he might reach out for her hand, but he didn’t, instead lacing his hands together in front of him. “So you didn’t… What you did with me-?”

Rose shook her head. “The Master told me to get close to you, and that’s all it was, in the beginning.  But you’re like no man I’ve ever met, you were so kind to me, and you were gentle and sweet and I had never… I’d never been treated so well.  And instead of plotting, I found myself falling in love with you.”

John looked shocked to hear it, and he stared at her.  “You-”

“I was falling in love with you,” She repeated, looking anywhere but at him. “You made me happy.  Really happy.  And I know I messed it up,” she glanced at him.  “And I know we can never go back.  But I wish we could, John.  I wish you would kiss me like that again.” She fidgeted in her seat.  “I’m going to go to sleep.”

“Rose.”

She slowly looked up at him. 

“I want us to be alright,” he told her, “And I don’t know why, because I feel like I should never forgive you.”

“I have the papers,” she said, “On the men I killed.  If you want to see them.”

“If you don’t mind. Why did you bring them here?”

She gave him a funny look. “Why would I want anyone else to find them?” She asked, and John had to agree with her on that.  

She got to her feet and walked to her room, hearing John padding along behind her.  She reached the bedroom and pulled the folder from her suitcase.  She handed it to John and sat cross legged on her bed, watching him read the files.

“I didn’t think you were lying,” he said softly after several minutes of silence, “but these are…. Wow.”

The two of them were completely silent for several minutes, until Rose started to shift uncomfortable.  “We can put those down,” she said softly, “I don’t like to look at them.”

“Why don’t you shred them?”  
“Well, until recently, they were testimony, on why people should hire me,” she said, “But I don’t need them anymore. I just didn’t have a chance to get rid of them.”

“Ah,” His voice was quiet and gentle.  “I suppose you wouldn’t.”  
She nodded and looked down at her hands again, not being able to look at him.  John sighed and she heard him set the papers down before he knelt down in front of the bed.  “Look at me?” he asked softly.

She lifted her eyes slowly, not really wanting to do so.  “What?” She asked. “What could you possibly want to say to me?”

He blew out a sigh. “I think we can fix this. Maybe not right now, and maybe not for awhile, but… I can see it in you.  You’re not the same woman.”  He reached out and cupped her cheek. “There’s no vengeance in your eyes.  You’re so open, so… You’re not at all the same woman you were when I was dating you.”  
Rose wanted to say something, but struggled to speak. “I- I’m not any different,” she said finally, choking the words out.

He smiled a little, eyes soft. “Yes you are,” he said, “You don’t push me away.  I’m not trying to get close and you’re not trying to push me.  You are different, whether you think that you are or not.”

She bit her lip and shook her head.  She didn’t feel any different, didn’t feel like a better person.  “I hurt you, and that’s not alright,” she said softly.

He brushed his thumb over her cheek and nodded.  “And I’m still hurt,” he admitted, “But I'm seeing you change.”

 

She felt exhausted, all of a sudden, felt like something was different and strange in her body.  She didn’t feel like herself, or at the very least, like she used to be.  She glanced down and pushed her cheek into his hand, craving his touch, wanting to snuggle closer to him, wrap her arms around him and never let him go. But it was simply too early for that, and decided to start to pull back.

He allowed her, and she thought that maybe he was glad that he didn’t have to touch her anymore.  She looked down at herself and nodded, though she wasn’t sure who, exactly, she was nodding at.  

“I should go to sleep,” she said hoarsely, “I don’t want to keep you anymore.”

“Alright,” John said, and got slowly to his feet. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” His voice was quiet.

“What will we do?”

“We could go sightseeing,” he said, now leaning against the door.  “It’s just a suburb in California, but the shops and things here are different, and… There’s a zoo.”

She smiled a little. “We could go to the zoo.”

“Okay, we’ll go to the zoo.”

The next day was more fun than Rose had anticipated, as she thought that it would be very awkward and awful, but it wasn’t. It turned out that John knew a load of useless animal facts, and told them to her while shifting back on his heels, hands jammed in his pockets.  And most of them start with “You know, Rose…” And after a while, things started to feel normal.

He commented on the fact that her eyes were tired, and she lifted a shoulder. It seemed that John was too kind for his own kind, and reached down to take her hand somewhere around the sea otter exhibit. 

“They’re beautiful,” she said softly. 

John hummed in agreement, “They can dive up to 300 feet when looking for food,” he said softly, “And they’re more like humans than we think. They have a favorite rock to open their shells with, and they hold hands to keep from floating away from their friends or mate.”  He squeezed her hand a little and she glanced up at him.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because you’re being nice to me.”

“That’s not a reason,” she said, laughing.  

“I told you last night, Rose, and I’m going to keep telling you.  I’ve not forgiven you, but… You’re so _sad.”_ _  
_ She looked away from him, not wanting him to know that he was right. Instead, she just squeezed his hand back and he tugged her a little closer to him.  

The days after the zoo passed slowly and mostly without incident. Rose and John, being roommates now, had a few fights.  Some of them were little spats, where the two would shoot nasty comments at one another, and sometimes Rose would clench her fists and scream.  They often screamed, but they never raised their hands to one another. They would never touch each other, and when they argued, it was usually from across the room, so that nothing could even begin to escalate.

It was one night that it escalated when everything changed.  The night that John forgot to wash the dishes like he promised he would and, for some reason, it set Rose’s blood boiling. 

“I am  _ sick  _ of being in this house with you!” She shouted, and he crossed his arms and  _ laughed,  _ he  _ laughed  _ at her!  

“You hate being with me!?  That’s a laugh, Rose, since you were the one that-”

“Don’t!  Don’t say it!”

“Since you were the one that was going to off me!”

“Stop it!” Rose started crying then, which hadn’t happened in any of their arguments, and John stood in shock, suddenly feeling horribly guilty.  Her face crumpled up and she put her head in her hands, sobbing openly.

It was, by far, the most emotion that he had ever seen from her.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“You thought that I was different,” she sobbed, “You had me believing I was different.”  She was about to turn tail and run when she felt his arms wrap around her.

She pushed against his chest, but this time, he wouldn’t let go of her.  Whenever either of them pulled away from each other, respecting distance, but John refused to let go of her this time.  He’d seen her fall into a sort of depression, and it made his heart ache in a way that he couldn’t understand. He held onto her tightly, pressing his cheek into her hair.  

After a moment she broke down entirely and she fell against him, starting to crumple, and he fell with her, pulling her to his lap and clutching her against him. 

“I’m sorry,” he said again, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

She didn’t reply, and he wished that he hadn’t said anything at all.  He pressed his lips to the crown of her head, closing his eyes and trying to force down tears of his own.

“I’m going to bed,” she said, trying to pull away from him.

“Wait, you need to calm down a bit,” he said, and got to his feet, pulling her with hima s her tears slowed.  He brushed them away with his thumbs, cupping her cheeks in his hands. “Let’s have a cup of tea and then I’ll do the dishes.”  
“I already did them,” Rose mumbled.

He sat them down for tea and sat next to her instead of across from her.  “I am sorry, Rose, I don’t know why I said that.”

“You don’t need to say that,” she said, “You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t mean it, you don’t do that.”

John shook his head. “But I shouldn’t…. I was just angry with you, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you like that.”

She sipped her tea, staring down into the cup.  “I feel- I’m a horrible person,” she said softly. “Awful.”  
“Not anymore,” John said firmly, “But, wow, you used to be.”  He cupped her chin in his hand and pulled her face to him.  “You _are_ different, and I see that now,” he said softly.  He leaned forward and kissed her softly, and the world melted around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys don't think I dealt with this too quickly, but I felt that John would understand Rose on a fundamental level once they started living together.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is almost entirely fluff, and I am entirely not sorry about it.

She broke away from him the moment his mouth touched hers, shock written all over her tear stained face. John tugged her chin again, and she went back to him, falling forward and reaching out to touch his cheek with one hand.  It was gentle, almost too gentle, and after a moment, she pulled away.

“You’ll change your mind,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut.  “You’ll hate me again.  You’ll realize that you were right all along, to push me away.  Won’t you?”

“No, I won’t,” John said, sliding his hand from her chin up into her hair,holding her close.  “I’m tired of fighting you,” he said, “And what you do to me.  I know you’re different, that you’re not the person that I thought you were.  You’re a good person surrounded by bad circumstances.”  He tipped his nose against hers.  “Look at me.”

She opened her eyes slowly, curling her fingers against his cheek. “You deserve better than me,” she whispered, staring into his eyes.

He watched her carefully.  “I’ve met you all over again,” he said softly, “A new woman, the person that, maybe, you were always meant to be.  Whose passion is art and so open and vulnerable.  I didn’t know you before. I know you now.”  
She leaned forward, not to kiss him, but to wrap his arms around his neck.  He shifted in his seat so that her knees were between his, and they fit together like puzzle pieces.  She buried her nose in his neck and heaved out a sigh as he drew her even closer.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“I know,” he replied.  He kissed her shoulder and rubbed his hand up and down her back.  “I know.”

She stopped fighting him then, stopped trying to convince him that she was horrible, because when she was with him, she didn’t feel that she was awful.  And when he held her, she felt the safest that she had ever been.  

They held each other for a long time, and John pulled back a little.  He leaned back to her to kiss her, trying to be gentle as well.  She accepted his kiss this time, running her hands into her hair, and they kissed deeper than they ever had before, no more tentative touches or uncomfortable shifting, like there had been before, even back when they were ‘dating’.  John’s grip on her grew stronger, less tentative, like he’d been restraining himself for so long.  And perhaps he had. Perhaps the feelings that he had had for her never went away, and things could get put back together.  Maybe they could put it all back together with four hands, assisting instead of tearing each other down.

Unbidden, Rose felt tears falling down her cheeks again, and she felt as he pulled her so that she could sit in his lap.  They fit together perfectly now, pressed up against each other, Rose’s knees bracketing John’s thighs.  

His hands rested chastely on her back, despite the fact that his tongue was in her mouth.  She pulled back from him after several moments, heaving for breath.  He smiled a little, and brushed her hair back from her forehead.  

She was still sobbing, and she noticed that John’s eyes were misty as well, though he hadn’t fallen quite as deep into the emotions as she had.  He moved his hands to cup her cheeks in his hands.  

“Rose.”

“I love you,” she choked out, and ducked her head. She took her hands from him and covered her face, completely mortified.  

He tried to pry her hands from her face, and he wasn’t really strong enough for it, not that he was trying so hard.  He didn’t want to force her into anything, really.  She just sat there, in his lap, her face burning with embarrassment.  

“Rose, look at me,” he said softly.

“No,” she said into her palms.  He chuckled a little and leaned forward to press kisses to her hands, tugging her waist with his hands now that he had stopped trying to pull her hands away.  

“Rose,” his lips brushed her ear as he got closer to her.  He pulled her close to him, and she moved slightly to tuck her face into the side of his neck.  He pushed his nose into her shoulder.  “Rose, please look at me.”

“No, I’m embarrassed,” she said softly.

“Do you mean it?” He asked.

“What?”  
“If you meant it, then there’s not need to be embarrassed,” he told her gently.

She shifted again, feeling very unsure of herself now that she’d blurted that out and gotten no response.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and burrowed close to him.  It was the one place that she felt safe in all the world, and to be wrapped up in his arms in this little house in America was the most beautiful, perfect thing that she thought she had ever experienced.  

He held her quietly, not saying anything. 

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because every time I look at you, I just think about how you should still hate me.  And you don’t.”

“I’ve been told I’m too forgiving,” he said, “Probably colossally in this place.”  He pushed her shoulders so that she was forced to look at him.  “But Rose, I’m going to say something to you,and I want us to move on.  I want us to move  _ forward.” _

“What is it?” Rose asked softly leaning towards him, feeling drawn to him like a magnet. 

“Rose, I forgive you.”

Her face crumpled up and the tears restarted.  John chuckled softly.

“Stop it,” he said softly, a hint of teasing in his voice.  “I probably shouldn’t, but I know that you, Rose, are a very different woman than you were before.” He stroked his thumb just under her eye.  “Your eyes are softer, and open, and I’ve never seen anyone cry more than I’ve seen you cry since we’ve been here.”

She laughed a little bit at that.  She leaned forward, wanting, possibly needing, to initiate the kiss this time.  He took it from her gratefully, humming against her mouth.  He wrapped her up in his arms again, kissing her eagerly and without any restraint. There was only hunger in his kiss now, like he had been waiting at least a million years to kiss her exactly like this.

He pulled back after several moments and patted her waist. “We should probably go slow,” he said to her.

As much as she wanted to shout “Sod going slow!” and kiss him within an inch of his life, she knew he was right.  They needed to take things slow if they were going to do anything to make this last, and Rose really, really wanted this to last.  She pressed her forehead to his. 

“Will you stay with me tonight?” She asked him bashfully, “Like, to sleep?”

“Okay,” John said, “Sure.”

“And you won’t be-”

“We’re past it, Rose,” he said softly, “Come on, let’s get ready to go to bed.  You’re gonna have a headache again.”  He trailed his fingers over her cheek.  

She let out a shaky sigh and nodded. “I don’t- I don’t deserve you, John,not even a little bit.”

He kissed her forehead and helped her off his lap before the two of them went their separate ways to get ready for bed.  Rose took a shower and washed her face, staring at her bloodshot eyes.  How could he forgive her?  
It was buzzing through her mind, and she wanted to understand, but she found that she couldn’t.  He cared about her, but of course he didn’t love her, he hadn’t responded when she said she loved him.

Her cheeks colored at the thought.  She was so embarrassed.  But he had forgiven her, and that was enough for a little bit.  Enough to get him to have a cuddle with her, and that was really enough for her.  She wanted to be with him, and the thought that he was comfortable enough with her to want to be with her too lifted the pain that had settled so firmly on her heart.

She went to her room, standing there in her pajama pants and tank top. She fiddled with the ties on her pants and know what to say when John came in, wearing pajamas of his own. 

He smiled at her a little as nervousness settled over the both of them.  He approached her with a hand stretched out to her.  She took it and he pulled her close to him, wrapping her in a loose hug. 

“I think I’ll feel safer with you in here anyway,” she said softly.

“Mm,” John said, sounding like he agreed.  “Let’s go to sleep then.”

Rose nodded against his chest and pulled back a little so that they could go to sleep. She crawled in on her side of the bed and he shut the door to the bedroom before joining her.  He turned on his side to face her as she got situated under the covers.  She peered at him in the semi dark room, the lamp still on on her nightstand.

“Should we talk some more?” he whispered.

She frowned, “About what?” She asked him in an equally low tone.

“I don’t know, you just looked like you wanted to talk about something.”

She shook her head against the pillow and reached out to cup his cheek gently. “My John,” she whispered, and he smiled tenderly back at her.  He took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her palm before scooting closer to her.    
“You can turn the light off,” he said softly to her, “I’m not afraid.”

She blinked. “I didn't think you were,” she whispered, “I just wanted to look at you a little while longer.”

He smiled. “Well, you could stare at me all night, or we could go to sleep.  Both would be fine, I suppose, but I think we both need the rest.”

She nodded, having to agree with him. She rolled out of his grip for just a moment so that she could turn her light off, and then rolled right back into his arm.

“I haven’t shared a bed with anyone since I was seventeen,” she whispered.

“Really?” He said softly, “Pretty girl like you.”

She giggled a little and snuggled closer to him. “Yes, really,” she said softly, “You know, it’s really odd, but I haven’t felt as close to anyone as I do to you.”

Rose shifted, pushing him on his back and pressed her ear to his chest. “I can hear your heartbeat,” she said softly.

John tipped her chin up and kissed her slowly, lazily, without any indication that he would like to take things any further, which was a bit disappointing, but Rose had a feeling that it really was for the best. She didn’t want to force anything, after all.

He kissed her until neither of them could really breathe, and then pulled back, smiling happily down at her.  She could feel it more than see it in the darkness, and it made Rose happy nonetheless.

“We should go to sleep,” John said softly, “We’ll figure out what we want to do tomorrow, okay? And no more fighting.”

“No more fighting.” Rose agreed wholeheartedly. She was tired of crying, tired of being wound up all the time, and this was the first night in a very long time that she actually felt comfortable and completely at ease. Her muscles were relaxed and he could feel John’s hands on her, making her go further into the space between awake and asleep.  She wanted to hold onto him like that forever. Or, at the very least, until morning.  Even if he wanted to get up for a drink of water, she had a feeling that she wasn't going to let him.

She pressed her head to his chest again and held him tight, listening to the steady beat of his heart as he stroked her upper arm with his fingertips lazily. He traced patterns in her skin that she tried to determine but knew that she would never be able to. She could only dream what he was tracing, and hoped it was something lovely.  There were no more words, only the ideas of feelings passing between them until the two of them drifted off together.

*******

“So you think this is where they’re living?”  
“Yes, I do.”

“And how can you be sure?”  
“Well, I can’t, but I do think that we should get a plane to America and get rid of them, don’t you think?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying really really hard to update this regularly!!!!! Sorry if it annoys anyone! 
> 
> PS. I've had 2 recommendations for stories: one is a fobwatch fic where the Doctor's human persona is DI Hardy and somehow the TARDIS crash lands into Pete's world (Reunion fic post Doomsday)
> 
> And the other is based on a Christmas movie, which I think I'll watch and then write to post at Christmas:) Let me know if you guys are interested in those! 
> 
> Enjoy the chap!

The days passed without incident, for a few days, at least.  John worked at a mechanic shop, not because he needed the money, but because he was bored.  Rose didn’t really have the expendable income to do anything, so she worked at a craft store and used the money to buy art supplies.  

One night, before John got home, Rose poked her head down the stairs and called to their guard, “Do you want some dinner?”

“No thank you, Miss Rose!  I’m about to go on my break, when Mr. Smith gets home!”

Jack had scolded her harshly when she had said that she wanted their guard to have breaks, but she did it anyway, because she felt like he didn’t have enough time to be with his family.

“Okay!” Rose called back, and went back to the kitchen to make dinner.  She’d been cooking more, and she felt like she really was moving into a new life.  John cooked with her, when he wasn’t working, but he worked often, so he didn’t do it much anymore. She missed him.

It wasn’t that he was trying to distance himself from her since they’d kissed, because he still crawled in bed with her every night and the two of them were much closer than they had been.  It did feel like a holiday, now that things were free and easy between them.

She heard a key in the lock and grinned, waiting for John to come in.  He threw his keys in the bowl by the door, and he called out, “I’m back!”

“I hear you,” Rose said, taking a step out of the kitchen. “Hi.”

He grinned and bounded up from the landing to grab her into a hug.  “I missed you.”  
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hummed happily.  “You smell like grease.”

“I was under a car all day.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and pulled back to look him in the eye.  “I’m making dinner.”

He brightened.  “Can I help?”  
She wrinkled her nose. “You can help by taking a shower,” she said, ruffling his hair a little.  He smiled and kissed her softly, pulling away as slowly as possible before taking off up to his room.

Rose had _never_ been this happy.  She felt like her heart was light all the time, and she wanted to go back to London and live with John there and live with her there so the two of them could be happy at _home._ This was fine, nice even, but it wasn’t home.

She had just reached the stove when her phone rang.  She saw it was Jack’s Caller ID and answered it on the first ring.  “Hello?”

“Yeah, Rose, we’ve got a slight problem.” Jack said in a rushed voice.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“We’ve got… Okay, so we can’t find the Master.  Any trace of him is gone,” he said.  “I just thought you needed to know.”

Rose felt her heart sink. “Do we need to move again?”

“No, but I need to watch your cameras,” Jack said, “WIth your guard.  Where is he right now?”

“He’s just gone on his break.”

Jack cursed under his breath, “Dammit, Rose, I told you not to do that!”

“I’m sorry,” Rose said, pressing her hand to his forehead.  “He’ll be back soon, I promise, but do you think he knows where we are?”  
“I don’t know, Rose,” Jack said.  “I’m going to keep a very close eye on things, and you need to _be sure_ to not let anyone but John and you guard in the house, do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Rose said meekly.  “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“When you and John go to bed tonight, I need you to lock your bedroom door.  Do everything you can to lock yourselves in.”

“Okay,” Rose was mentally taking a note of everything he was saying and filing away everything that she needed to do.   “Okay, we’ll be very careful.”

“That’s what you need you to know,” Jack said harshly, “I’m gonna go so I can watch these cameras.  That’s all I’m going to be doing for the next 24 hours.  Alright?”

Rose nodded, before remembering that Jack couldn’t see her.  “Okay,” she said softly.

“So no hanky panky,” Jack said, trying to be cheeky to cheer her up.

She giggled a little, some tension releasing.  “We’ll just do it under the covers.”

“Naughty,” Jack scolded.  “I’m going to go. Love you, Rosie.”

“Love you,” Rose said softly, and they bid goodbye and hung up.  She cooked alone in silence, feeling desperately like she needed John with her.  All of a sudden, she didn’t feel safe, and she wondered if he was safe.  Her heart rate ratcheted up with fear before the groan of the pipes and running water told her that John was getting in the shower.  She breathed out a sigh of relief that wasn’t really necessary, because of _course_ he was safe.

He came down about ten minutes later, hair still wet, his t shirt clinging to his chest.  He was still buttoning his jeans when he approached her.  He grinned and wrapped his arms around her from behind.  “Smells good,” he said softly, kissing her cheek and resting his head on her shoulder.

She closed her eyes and smiled a little, letting herself fall in love with him even a little bit more.  “Thanks,” she said softly, “It’s just chicken and vegetables though, I didn’t have time to do anything else.”

“That’s okay,” he said softly, “We should eat in bed,” he said against her neck.  

She giggled and pushed her shoulder up, keeping his head where it was. “No, no crumbs in the bed.  And besides, you said you wanted to take things slow.”

He sighed softly, “I’m tired of taking things slow,” he said, biting her neck and going even closer to her.  

She smiled and wriggled against him. “Why don’t we eat first?  Plus, remember Jack’s watching.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, realization coloring his voice. He seemed to forget that, every time they kissed or did anything remotely physical.  

She realized she needed to tell him exactly what was going on, why Jack had called, because if she didn’t, miscommunication would ruin their relationship again.  He pressed another kiss to her neck and pulled back, leaning against the counter so that he could look her in the face. “What’s wrong?” He asked softly.  

“Jack called,” she admitted.  “He said they can’t find the Master.”

John nodded slowly. “I… I thought so,” he said, “I figured something like that might happen.”

Rose told him everything that Jack told her, including the fact that they should practically barricade themselves into the bedroom.

John nodded gravely. “I think that’s a good idea,” he said softly, “We should probably go up there soon, watch telly up there or something.”

Rose nodded and ran her hand through her hair.  “Yeah,” she said softly.

‘Are you alright?”  
“I’m scared,” she admitted, looking down into the pan of vegetables.  He took her hand and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulder.  She squeezed him around the waist.

“It’s alright,” he said softly, “We’re going to be alright.  I promise.”

She got even closer to him and he pressed kisses to the crown of her head. She felt one of his hands move off her and she giggled when she realized what he was doing.

“Are you stirring my vegetables?”

“Well, you aren’t going to.”

They ate dinner and Rose took a shower before scurrying into John’s room, slamming the door shut behind her. She picked up his desk chair and shoved it under the doorknob before crawling into bed next to him and curling against his chest.  He laughed a little and turned the tv on, squeezing her shoulder. “It’s alright,” he said, “I promise,  Look, see, I’m between you and the door. You’re safe.”

She nodded and curled up tighter against him.  He pressed a kiss to her temple and sighed softly.  “Just relax,” He murmured, “It’s going to be alright.”

She tried to, relaxing her muscles as they watched movies together.  It wasn’t their first movie night, but it felt different, cuddled up in his bed, arms wrapped around each other.  

They went to sleep early, as they were already in bed, and Rose found herself drifting off around nine o’ clock.  John followed behind her, the telly still droning on in front of them.  Their breathing evened out and they easily fell asleep.  

Rose awoke to her phone vibrating violently against her leg.  She jolted and sat up to pull the phone out from under the covers.  “Hello?” She said, knowing it would probably be Jack.

“Hi, Rosie,” he said urgently, “There’s a man trying to get into the house right now, and three more surrounding the place.  I called the police, but I’m not sure how long till they’ll be there.’  
Rose’s blood ran cold. “What do we do?”

“Do what you can to protect yourself,” Jack said, “If you and John have to get in the closet again, then do that,” Jack said carefully.  “Please, just protect yourself.”

“Where’s our guard?”

“He’s knocked out, they got to him before he could phone in to the authorities to get them to you. Please Rose, get John up and do something.”

Rose rang off with Jack and she reached over to shake John awake. He started and reached out to touch her leg. “What’s wrong, Rose?”

“They found us.”

He sat up and glanced at her.  “What?”

“Jack just called, they’re coming in here,” she whispered.  “We have to hide.”

“No, we don’t,” he said, and he got to his feet and padded over to his closet.  He pulled open the closet and removed a metal baseball bat.

“I don’t carry guns,” he said, “But I do have this.

Rose couldn't stop herself from laughing a little, keeping it hushed. “Okay,” she said softly, and just then she heard the sound of their front door being broken into.  She cringed and tightened her fists into the bedsheets, trying not to let her fear rule her.  John came to her side and cupped her cheek softly, looking down at her.

“It’s going to be alright,” he said softly.

She nodded, trying to feel like that was true.  

The person who had broken into the home seemed to know exactly where to go, as two pairs of footsteps thundered up the stairs to the bedroom door.  Someone bodily slamming into the door was heard, as well as grumbled words, and John frowned a little.

“I know that voice,” he said softly, and Rose did too.  The Master.

She swallowed hard and watched helplessly as the door was slammed multiple times.  She got to her feet and stood behind John, noting that his hands shook slightly as they gripped the baseball bat painfully tight.  

The door swung open, the wood by the doorknob splintering, the legs of the chairs cracking.  John flinched and Rose grabbed his arm as he tried to push her behind him.  She wouldn’t let him.  She was the one that put him in danger, so she wasn’t going to let him stand up to their attacker alone.

The man who barreled through the door was apparently not expecting to be caught, or at the very least, he didn’t expect for there to be any witnesses.  He didn’t wear a mask, blonde hair exposed to anyone who wished to see it, though he wore a black sweatshirt and jeans.  John choked as the two men locked eyes.

“Harry?”

The blonde man rolled his eyes. “Oh, God, I should’ve known your little bird would wake you up,” he said, his tone condescending.  Rose felt another chill run over her.  She _did_ know this voice. This was the Master.

“You know him?” Rose asked.

“He was my best friend in Uni,” John said.  “You know him?”

Rose had to push back the urge to run behind him and set her head on his shoulder.  Instead, she nodded slowly.  “That’s the Master.”

“Right in one!” The Master, or Harry, Rose supposed, cried happily.  “I didn’t expect her to actually _fall_ for you, John. Really, it’s not like you’re a catch.”

John winced. ‘That’s not… Not the point.”

“Who’s with you?” Rose blurted out.

“My accomplice.  You don’t need to know his name.”  Harry gestured and a man with dark hair and dark eyes stepped out from behind Harry.

“Why?” John asked, sounding completely hurt.  “You hired someone to murder me.  Why?”

“I’d rather just kill you both now, if it’s all the same to you,” The Master said, and lifted a gun from his waistband.  He pointed it at Rose. “First, I’ll get rid of the _cow_ who ruined this for me.”

Rose felt her jaw drop and the moments following seemed to happen in slow motion.  John swung the bat down and knocked it out of Harry’s hand.  A shot rang through the air right before Harry dropped the gun, swearing and cradling the injured hand in the other.  

Rose looked to John, and saw his face had turned white.  He looked down at his leg and both of them saw that in the slight scuffle, he’d been shot in the shin.

She saw red with anger, turned to Harry, and pounced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review?


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys seemed to really like the DI Hardy idea, so I'll be doing that one next, and while I'm writing that I'll prep up the Christmas Affair one to write. Thanks for the input!!

John watched in shock as Rose launched for Harry, wrapping her hands around his neck and throwing him to the ground, his distraction making it able for her to do so.  He cried out in shock and then reached up to grab her.  Behind the scuffle, Harry’s accomplice was pulling a gun, and the only thing that John could think to do was to run across the room and club the man over the head with the bat.  Suddenly he felt no pain, adrenaline coursing through him, and by the time he turned back around Harry had pinned Rose down and was screaming at her. It was clear he had hit her once when John was distracted, and that he probably planned on doing it again.

“You whore!” he shouted at her, “If you had just done your job, none of this would have happened!”

John grabbed Harry by the back of his shirt and threw him to the carpet. Harry let out a cry of alarm as he hit the ground and sprung easily back up to his feet before taking a swing at John.

Rose cradled her injured eye for just a moment before seeing that John was bleeding quite profusely and didn’t seem to even notice, as he was too busy trying to kick the stuffing out of Harry, baseball bat forgotten on the floor beside him.  Rose jumped, grabbing Harry around the ankles and tugging them out from under him, sending both men onto the ground.  

John lifted up and punched Harry in the face, hoping to disorient him, burning with rage that this man had dared to lay a finger on Rose.

“This isn’t about her!” he shouted at Harry. “Whatever the hell happened, it’s between you and me!  And you wanted me _dead,_ and I deserve to know why!”  
John’s voice echoed through the room and Harry kicked him in the stomach, apparently not interested in justice.  John toppled back, grimacing, and Rose was torn between wanting to beat Harry further and wanting to go to John.  Instead of doing either, she rolled to the side and picked up the bat from where it lay before standing on her knees in front of John, prepared to swing the bat at Harry.

“Why couldn’t you just let this go?” She asked, “Why did you have to keep chasing us?”

“Because I always get what I want!” Harry shouted, “And I want that man dead!”

“He never did anything to you!” Rose shouted in reply, feeling her hands shake with a rage that had never so encompassed her bones before.  She was also afraid, cold with it, even, but she had no idea how to turn that into something productive, so she just stared, waiting for Harry to say something else.

All three of them were panting, John struggling to sit up, and Rose and Harry at a sort of standoff.  Harry wiped his mouth of blood and glared at Rose.

“He’s a successful arse,” Harry spat, “He’s useless and boring and he always got more attention. He was always showing how much better he was than me.  He never did anything and yet he still got  _ everything,  _ all because his parents kicked it!”

John finally managed it sit up. “You’re a sodding idiot,” he said. 

“How  _ dare you!”  _ Harry said, full of anger.  “I’m far smarter than you, I always was, and I hated you in school!”

John shook his head. “No, Harry, we were friends until we had that fight. But it’s not worth killing somebody over.  It’s not.”  
“It is!” Harry snarled, “I want you dead.  You own an airline and you can’t maintain a social life?  You have no business _running_ a business!”

“How did you find us?” Rose demanded.

“It wasn’t hard,  _ Bad Wolf,”  _ Harry snarled.  “I watched you the whole time you were sulking around, saw you get that job.  You and that American thought you lost me, but I got to follow you all the way to the airport.  Couldn’t get to where you were headed, though.  I had to do a bit of research for that. Not that it matters, because I’m still going to kill you both.”

John groaned and Rose was trying to think quickly to figure out what she was going to do when sirens sounded outside the house and police lights flashed in their window.  

Harry swore under his breath and tried to run, but tripped over his passed out counterpart and fell again.  Rose heard someone shout “Police!” and the sound of their door cracking.  The sound of someone hitting the ground told Rose that Harry had been caught.  She finally dropped the bat and turned to John, getting on her knees next to him.  He was sitting up, but his face was ashen as he stared at his own blood soaked leg. 

“John,” Rose choked out, and he looked to her, forcing a smile. 

“I think I’ll be alright,” he said softly. His eyes looked troubled, despite his words. Rose cupped his cheek as tears started to form behind her lashes.  

“Up here!” Rose shouted over her shoulder.  “Help!”  
Two police officers came thundering up the stairs then, and while one pulled up Harry’s accomplice, one came over and knelt next to Rose. “What happened here ma’am?”

She pointed at John’s let, “He was shot,” she said softly.

The officer talked into a walkie talkie at his shoulder, signaling for someone to send an ambulance.  “You’ll have to stay here until the ambulance comes,” the officer said, “Don’t move him.”

********

They let Rose ride in the ambulance because she was so hysterical that they worried she might become violent if she wasn’t allowed to go with John. For some reason the police could only understand on a fundamental level, she did not want to be away from him.  An officer sat in with her to talk to her about what happened.  She spoke mechanically, gripping John’s hand almost painfully and as he drifted in and out of consciousness as the paramedics hooked him up to an IV.    
“Rose,” John breathed, and Rose pressed a kiss to his hand to reassure him that she was there with him.  

The officer talked to her and she told him, step by step, what happened.  The officer took notes and Rose barely felt like she was the one speaking.

“My friend,” she said hoarsely, “I have to let my friend know that we’re okay.”  
“That’s fine, ma’am,” the officer assured her.

Rose pulled out her phone with one hand, the other one still gripping John, and then dialed Jack carefully.  

“Rose? I heard the police are there.”

“Yeah, John and I are in the ambulance.”  
“I saw what happened, I got linked into the cameras.  Is he alright?”  
“The paramedics say that he’s going to be,” She said, staring at her hand, still wrapped around John’s. She swallowed hard and tried to figure out what to say.  “What do I do?”

“Nothing.” Jack’s voice was firm and did not leave room for argument. “I’m going to come to America on the next flight, don’t worry about getting John’s info, I’ll get it from your guard.  It’s kind of common knowledge that you’re protected, so we need to just… Sort everything. Trust me, okay?”

“Okay,” She whispered. “Bye.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

The rest of the ride to the hospital left Rose feeling oddly empty, and she didn’t know how to sort out any of the emotions that she was feeling.  She chewed her bottom lip raw as she sat at John’s hospital bed.  He was ashen and breathing shallowly, hooked up to a blood transfusion as he lost just this side of too much through his wound.  Rose sat next to his bed, holding his hand, watching his eyelids. 

“Rose,” he said softly, without opening his eyes.

“Yeah?” She asked him gently.

“You should go with the police, have them look after you,” John said sleepily, his breathing still labored. 

“No,” She said, “I’m gonna stay right here with you.”

“You’ll need to sleep,” He said, opening his eyes a little and peering at her.

She gave him a watery smile and shook her head.  “Nah,” she said, “I can sleep here, they’ll have to let me stay with you.” 

He sighed and closed his eyes again.  “Love, come on.  You’ve already got bags under your eyes.  You need sleep.”

She wanted to tell him that she only slept right when she was with him. She wanted to tell him how much that she loved to be near him and she needed to see that he was safe. She wanted to keep close to him, and wild horses literally could not drag her away.  She sat at his bedside until a nurse came in and she turned dreadfully sad eyes on him.  It turned out that the nurse had already been informed of their situation.

“We have guards stationed at the door, Ms. Tyler, and we’re going to lock it after we bring a cot in for you.  Let us know if Mr. Smith needs anything.”  
“That’s ridiculous,” John’s gravelly voice rumbled from the bed.  “She can sleep in the bed with me.”

“Sir, your wires-”

John opened his eyes and regarded the nurse. “I’ll be careful. I’ve got my blood transfusion, so that’s one less wire.  Just my IV she has to watch out for.”  
The nurse looked between the two of them.  “Alright,” He said, giving in.  “Now, call us if you need anything.  Otherwise, we’ll see you in the morning.  And, Mr. Smith, a man is flying here from London to see you and Miss Tyler, are you aware of this?”

“Yes,” John said.  “He’s our friend in London who’s been protecting us,” he seemed to be struggling to hold his eyes open. “Thank you,” he said.

The nurse nodded and disappeared behind the door, shutting it and Rose only felt safe when she heard the lock click.  She looked up at John, who was now staring at her. 

“Come on,” he said, jerking his head to indicate that she should hop up.

It took a bit of maneuvering, but eventually Rose wound up under the covers on the side that John’s wires weren’t on, her head pillowed on his shoulder and their hands laced between them.  John tugged the blankets over them both and pressed a kiss to her temple. 

“You tackled him,” John said softly, “When he shot me.”  
“How could I not?” Rose replied, “I just… I didn’t see anything, I just saw that he hurt you, and I couldn't… I couldn’t let him do it anymore.  I knew he was gonna kill you, John.”

“He might’ve killed you.”

“He was distracted,” Rose countered, “I would’ve been alright.  And I was.”  She closed her eyes. “It’s alright.”

“No, I’m just saying…. if … You had no regard of your own safety, you were just worried about me.  I’ve never-”

“I was the one who put you in danger, John,” she cut him off. “I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.”

He nudged his nose against her hair.  “Look at me.”

“What?” 

“I want to kiss you, and I can’t move to get you to move. You’re gonna have to do it.”  
She laughed a little and braced herself up before leaning over and kissing him.  He sighed, as though he’d been waiting for that all night, and kissed her back with just a bit of urgency.  She lifted her hand and cradled his jaw, taking her time with kissing him slowly.  After a few long moments, she pulled back and rested her forehead against his. He was panting, his breath still evading him.

He nudged his nose with hers. “I love you,” he breathed, and Rose felt tears well up in her eyes. 

“Took you long enough.”

He laughed. “Sorry.”

She snuggled down next to him again, curling into his side with her head on his shoulder, and he kissed the crown of her head before the two of them drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've written the whole "Cuddling in the hospital bed" thing, but good lord it's cute.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter! Thank you guys for the love you've shown it, i'm glad that you liked it as much as I did!
> 
> My DI Hardy/reunion/fob watch AU will be out soon. With how busy I am, I can only do one story at a time, and not 2 like i usually do :( I'm so sorry if that upsets anyone!
> 
> Enjoy the last chapter!

The next morning, Jack appeared at John’s hospital room.  Rose and John were still curled up together, Rose clutching John’s shirt, her nose buried in his chest.  

Jack alerted them to his presence by shutting the door with just enough force to make noise.  Rose jolted and threw her arm over John, her eyes opening and staring at Jack.  She relaxed a little and settling back against him. 

“Hello,” she said.

He smiled and waved a little at her.  “Good morning.”

“What’s going on?” Rose asked quietly, not wanting to wake John. 

“So, I see things are sorted between the two of you,” He said, pulling up the chair in the room and sitting on Rose’s side of the bed.  

“Yeah,” she said softly, peering up at John’s face. “Are we safe?” She asked Jack.

“We arrested the Master and his accomplice,” Jack nodded.  “They won’t be bothering the two of you again,” He said. 

“He was John’s friend,” Rose said softly, “He was jealous, he  _ hated  _ him.”

Jack nodded sadly.  “I know,” He said softly, “He confessed, was screaming about it when I went to check in with the police station.  He’s crazy.”

John shifted a little as he woke up.  He pressed his nose to Rose’s temple and rolled towards her a little bit.  

He opened his eyes and looked at Jack.  “Oh,” he said, “Hi.”

“Hi, you,” Jack said, and winked.  John wrinkled his nose and moved closer to Rose.

“So can we go home, after John is released?” Rose asked.

“Yes, you can go home, and it’ll be completely safe for you,” Jack assured them.  “Everything is completely safe for you, I promise.”

John pressed closer to Rose, apparently very snuggly and needing to be closer to her.  She held his hand in hers and looked at Jack.  

“Am I… Are we in trouble?” Rose asked. “You and me?”

Jack shook his head.  “He keeps telling the police that he talked to the Bad Wolf and the Face, but the problem is, everything about you as Bad Wolf has been erased and is not accessible, and I’m just ‘the Face’ and if you Google ‘the Face’ you’re not going to get a lot of information, are you?” 

Rose visibly relaxed. “That’s true,” she said.  “I didn’t… Thank you for protecting me,” she smiled a little. “Thank you.”

“Of course, Rosie,” he said, reaching over to pat her on the hip.  “I’m going to check with the doctors and pack up the house for the two of you.  I’ll tell the neighbors you’ve been spooked enough to go home.  I’ll bring you and John changes of clothes and then when John’s well we’ll go home.  Okay?”

“Okay,” Rose said softly.

“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.  There are still guards outside the door, it’s gonna be alright.” Jack smiled and kissed her on the cheek. They bid each other goodbye quietly and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

“Are you alright?” Rose asked once Jack was gone.  She reached up and carded her hand through his hair, settling it at the back of his skull. 

He hummed a little and buried his face in her neck. “I’m exhausted,” he said softly.

She smiled a little at his sleepy voice. “Yeah,” she told him, “I suppose getting shot in the leg and also getting a blood transfusion would make you a bit tired.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.  His breathing was deep and slow, and it was clear that he was still recovering.  

“I love you,” she whispered to him when he didn’t reply to her words.  
He hummed happily against her neck and breathed out a little sigh. “I love you, Rose.”

She grinned happily and wrapped her arms tighter around him as he fell back asleep. 

***************

A few days passed before John was cleared for travel, and against better judgement, Rose spent all those days with John, cuddled up to his side of reading a book sitting next to him, or walking around the hospital with Jack. 

It was only when they were on the plane that John brought up what everyone had been thinking.

“Where will you stay, when we get back?” he asked.

“I suppose in my flat,” Rose said.

‘Yes, but… Do you really want to be there?” He asked her softly.

She looked over at him and furrowed her brows. “Why shouldn't I?” she asked.

He shifted in his seat and blushed a little.  “Um… I was going to ask, if maybe you’d like to… You know, move in with me?  Instead of going home.”

She turned to him a little. “Really? She asked.  “You want me to move in with you?”

“I don’t want to be alone,” he said gently.  “I don’t ever want to be alone again, but you and I… I want to be with you.  I want to fall asleep next to you every night.”

She smiled a little and nodded. “Yeah,” she said, nodding. “Yeah, I’ll move in with you.”

He beamed, and she thought she’d never seen his face so happy.  “Really?  Brilliant!” He put up the armrest between them on the plane so that he could tug her into his arms.

She giggled against him.  He was an extreme cuddler and she enjoyed it immensely.  It was like he needed her against him at all times just to know that she was near.  She let him hold her in his arms as the low rumble of the plane filtered through her head.

“I’m happy I found you,” he said softly.

“You wouldn’t have said that before,” Rose said, hating to remind him but feeling like she had to.

He made an odd sound in the back of his throat.  “You know what I mean,” he scolded her, “It’s fine, really, everything… We’ve sorted everything, and no relationship is without trial.”

“It’s a bit more of a trial than most couples have,” she said softly.

He kissed her forehead. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” he said softly, “This is us, now, exactly who we are, and we’re not going to be anything else. I’m not going to talk about your past, and we don’t need to talk about mine. We know it, and that’s all that we need.”  
She closed her eyes and nuzzled against his chest. “Yeah,” she whispered. “Yeah.”

********

Days passed, and Rose moved into John’s home.  It was tiny, because John still lived in his little flat, but the two of them didn’t mind. Rose was able to secure her job again, much to her delight, and the people she worked with fretted over where she had been. 

Keisha called her after a week of her being there and Rose felt incredibly guilty for not calling sooner.

“Babe, some guy contacted me and said it was safe to talk to you again? What happened? I want to know everything!”

Rose had been sitting with her feet in John’s lap as he read a book and she flipped through channels on the telly.  She turned the volume down and grimaced.  “Yeah, um… It was kind of a witness protection thing.  Me and John-”

“John? That’s the guy that dumped you!” Keisha shrieked, and Rose had to hold her phone away from her ear to keep from hurting her hearing.  

“Yeah, well, it’s safe to say that I got un-dumped,” Rose said sheepishly.  That caught John’s attention and he arched an eyebrow at her, peering at her over his glasses.  She simply stuck her toes in his stomach and he grinned, going back to his book.

After small talk and Rose promising Keisha that she would meet Keisha for coffee and give her all the gritty details at a later date.  Keisha had grumbled a bit but the two of them had set up a date to go out together.  When Rose hung up, John put his book down and regarded her carefully.

“Un-dumped?” he said teasingly.

Rose blushed. “I was in a state, when we-”

He grinned and cut her off. “Me too.”

“Oh, shut up, I was far worse!” Rose said, laughing.  “Crying like a baby, couldn’t seem to get my feet back under me. Screamed at Jack for a good two hours.  Though we were at a restaurant, so maybe  _ scream  _ isn’t the right word-”

“Oi, I think we were both right messes after it,” John said softly. “I didn’t leave the house. I couldn’t bring myself to.  Worked from home for a bit to get back on my feet.  Donna wanted to slap me, I could tell, but she saw how bothered I was and took mercy on me.” He smiled at her. “I didn’t want to be without you, even then.”

She took her feet from his lap and cuddled up into his side. His arm slid around her and he tucked her close against him, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“I’d like to meet Donna,” She said softly.  “Someday.”

“I’d like to introduce you to Donna,” John countered, chuckling a little.  “I think you are a very important woman, and she’s very close to me, so I’d like for you two to meet each other.”

Rose closed her eyes and settled her head against his shoulder.  “Good,” she said softly.”

The Master (or Harry Saxon, as he was also known) was given a good, solid amount of time in prison after being found guilty of attempted murder and also premeditated murder.  Somehow, it was never traced back to Jack and Rose, which made John breathe a sigh of relief.  That night, he wrapped his arms a little bit tighter around her as they fell asleep.

*******

Time passed, as it is wont to do, and Rose had to  admit that she had never been happier. About six months after moving in with John, the two of them decided that they needed to get a bigger flat.  So they bought one with a bit more space, and John seemed dreadfully happy, which made Rose just as happy.  

They had been spending a casual night which had started as a movie night but ended with a bit of horizontal snogging on the couch.  John lay over Rose, his knees between hers and his elbows bracing him on either sides of her head. 

She ran her hands up into his hair and let him kiss her how he liked.  She wished she could hold onto him forever, but eventually she needed to pull away for air.  She breathed out a sigh as he pressed kisses along her jaw and down to her neck.  He bit the skin just under her ear and sucked it hard until he was certain there would be a mark there. 

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” he said against her neck.

“Mm,” She replied, only really half paying attention to him.  He continued kissing her happily, and she giggled at him. “What have you been thinking about?” She asked, scratching his scalp.

“I’ve been thinking that we’re very close,” he said, popping up onto his hands so that he could look down into her face. 

She whimpered, wanting him to keep kissing her. “What?” She asked him softly, tugging at the collar of his t-shirt.

“Are we, Rose? Very close?”

“Could be closer,” she said cheekily.

He smiled and nudged his nose with hers. “Rose, answer me.”

“Yes, John,” She said sincerely, “We’re very close, and I love it,” She said, cupping his cheek in her hand.  “I love  _ you.” _

He grinned happily. “Yeah,” He said. “I love you too,” he rushed out, “And you know, I’d like…  I’d like for us to be even closer.”

“How so?”

“Um, I was gonna do this right,” he said, scrambling off her and then digging in his jeans pocket as he got to his feet.  

Rose sat up, swinging her feet to the ground. “Are you alright?” She asked him urgently, a little worried about him.

He threw himself down on his knee in front of her, holding something in his hands. She gasped, now fully understanding where this was going. 

“I love you,” he said, “So much.  And I want to love you forever,” he took her hand gently in his.  “I want to have you with me forever, for the rest of our lives.  You’re my favorite person.” He smiled a little, looking very nervous.  “And I want to marry you. Wait! That’s not how I wanted to ask you.  Um… Will you marry me, Rose Tyler?”  
Fingers shaking, he opened up the box and presented her with a beautiful diamond right that had tiny diamonds also trickling down into the band, which was a delicate rose gold color.  It was beautiful.  Rose gasped and got down onto her knees in front of him. She cupped his cheeks, staring into his nervous eyes. 

“Yes,” she said softly.  “ _ Yes.” _

“It’s not too fast, I’m not being too eager?”  
She giggled and silenced him with a kiss.  He slid the ring onto her finger and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. 

Rose leaned forward and hugged him, with him still on one knee, and her on her knees in front of him.  He kissed her cheek and pressed his nose to her neck. 

Rose never thought that she would be this happy, But luckily, the universe decided to smile on John Smith and Rose Tyler, and while it wasn’t perfect, they were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review?

**Author's Note:**

> please review?


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